There’s no way to predict how long it’ll take to sell a house. I’m in the process right now, and it’s excruciating. When you get an offer from a buyer, your first inclination may be to seize it. The sooner you accept an offer, the sooner you can move into a new place, right?
But not every offer is a good offer — and if you accept the wrong one, the deal could collapse (which has happened plenty of times in my amateur real estate dealings). Learning how to recognize the red flags of an iffy buyer is the best way to protect yourself.
Here are six warning signs to consider before accepting an offer on your house.
1. Buyer isn’t preapproved
There’s no rule that says a buyer must be preapproved before submitting a bid. But when a person has taken steps to secure a mortgage loan, you know you’re dealing with a serious buyer.
On the other hand, if you receive an offer from a buyer who hasn’t met with a lender, you don’t know if they meet the requirements for a mortgage. If you accept this offer only to learn that they can’t get financing, you’re back to square one.
2. Buyer is inflexible
Be wary of buyers who have nonnegotiable time constraints for closing and moving into the home. A buyer may want a quick close, which isn’t a bad thing if you already have another place. But if it doesn’t complement your own timeline, you could end up living with family, or worse, in a hotel, which chips away at money that could go toward your new home.
Then again, a buyer may not want to take possession of the house for 60 or 90 days.
This can delay closing on your next property, and if you’ve already signed a purchase agreement for another property, you could end up juggling two mortgages for a couple of months. Ideally, you should work with a buyer who’s able to close and take possession of the house around the same time you’re scheduled to…The post 6 Signs a Seller Should Pass on a Home Offer appeared first on FeedBox.