6 tips for writing the best real estate offer

We chatted with Sid Pugh, North Alabama Realtor and local broker of The Pugh Group, to gain insight on the area’s market and learn how buyers can take their best shot at winning a contract.

“Inventory of homes on the market is still very low in most areas,” he said. “Nationwide, we are over 5 million homes short of meeting demand which tends to push values up on the existing supply. It is all about what we learned in high school economics – supply and demand.

“In our current market, we are still seeing some multiple offers. I’m not talking about 10  to 15 offers like we experienced in 2022, but we may get three to five offers on a nice home in a good neighborhood.

“When making an offer in the current market conditions, you still need to structure your offer to give yours the greatest chance of being accepted – especially if this home meets most of  the requirements and needs for your family.”

Make your offer more attractive to sellers with these six tips from Sid:

1. Have your financing in place and submit a copy of the pre-approval letter with your
   offer. Put down a good amount as earnest money based on your agent's recommendation.
2. Put as few contingencies in your offer as you can. If you have to make your offer
   contingent on your current home being sold then you should have it on the market. This
   shows that you are serious and making an effort to get it sold.
3. Let the seller know that you are not going to be picky about minor findings on the
   inspection report. I always recommend doing a home inspection to include a radon
   inspection. However, you can state that the home inspection is for major defects and
   hazardous conditions only.
4. Have your agent ask the seller’s agent what is important to the seller. For example,
   when is the best time frame for them to close? Do the sellers need to close and retain
   possession for a week to close and move into their new home?
5. Flip the script! Try to put yourself in the shoes of the seller and look at things from their
   point of view. Moving is a stressful time for all parties and it needs to be a win-win for
   both sides of the transaction.
6. Stay calm. Things will happen during this process but the best thing to do is keep your
   focus on the ultimate goal of moving your family into their new home.