Loop Your Loan Officer In When Making an Offer on a Home

When you find the right home, things can move quickly. You may have to decide how much to offer, whether to go above asking price, or how to structure your offer to make it more attractive to the seller.

One of the best things you can do before making those decisions is loop your loan officer into the conversation.

Your loan officer can help you understand what each option actually means for your monthly payment, interest rate, and cash needed to close.

If You Expect Multiple Offers, Know Your Numbers

Suppose a new listing hits the market and you expect multiple offers. Before you submit your offer, your loan officer can run the numbers for you.

What does the payment look like at the asking price?

What if you need to go $10,000 higher? $20,000? $50,000?

Knowing those numbers ahead of time can make a big difference.

Instead of stopping during negotiations to figure out whether you can afford the next step, you already know the impact. You can make decisions quickly and confidently.

Sometimes speed wins the bid.

Having your numbers ready can help you respond while other buyers are still trying to figure out what their next move should be.

What If You Negotiate a Lower Price?

The same conversation can be valuable when things go the other way.

Maybe the seller agrees to reduce the price by $10,000. That doesn't necessarily mean the best choice is simply to take the lower purchase price.

You may have several options.

You could:

• Take the full price reduction and lower your loan amount.

• Negotiate for a seller credit to help cover closing costs and reduce the cash you need to bring to closing.

• Use some of the savings toward buying down your interest rate.

• Combine these strategies.

Your loan officer can show you how each option affects your monthly payment and cash to close.

There Isn't One Right Answer

Every buyer's situation is different.

One buyer may value the lowest possible monthly payment. Another may want to minimize the amount of cash they need at closing. Someone else may have plenty of cash available and prefer to simply reduce the purchase price.

The important thing is to understand your choices before you have to make the decision.

Your real estate agent is focused on negotiating the best deal for you. Your loan officer can help you understand the financial impact of that deal.

When those two conversations happen together, you can make decisions faster, with more confidence and fewer surprises.

So when you're ready to make an offer, don't just call your real estate agent. Loop your loan officer in, too.

A few minutes of conversation before you make the offer could save you thousands—or help you structure the offer that gets you the house.