A reader wrote the following question to me:

I read the blog you wrote about agents not using written offers.  Would you say this also applies on new homes (submitting an offer to a sales office in a new development) Our realtor put in our offer verbally, and I wonder if it was the right way to approach it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

If I were working with a buyer who was planning on putting in an offer to a sales office in a new development, I would recommend to my client that he put the offer in writing. One, if the offer is accepted, he's done! No need to have a second meeting to go over the details 'cause they're already worked out. Two, there may be lots of unanticipated costs with new construction - upgrades to features in the house can quickly add up and move the property into the realm of the "un-affordable". Isn't it better that my client knows the costs up front?

If the sales office representative recommended a verbal offer, I would want to know why. My client's written offer has a chance of being accepted. A verbal offer is likely to come back with a verbal "maybe" or "it depends". The builder may come back with a counter that isn't in my client's best interests, such as "we'll consider your offer if you agree to skip the home inspection". Then my client has already lost a step and hasn't even put the offer in writing yet. Then, what if a better offer comes in, in writing, before my client can get his in writing?

With so many buyers putting in low offers, whether it's new construction or re-sale, there is a temptation to see if the seller would even consider the offer. I can only offer an example from this past year: My client made a fairly aggressive offer that the sales representative didn't think would be accepted by the builder. I anticipated a counter-offer on a couple of the terms myself. Had the offer been verbal, it probably wouldn't have been accepted. However, the sales rep called me to say that, much to his surprise, the builder had accepted all the terms. He said the builder had rejected a similar offer just a month or two before. However, the market was changing and the offer that was unattractive a month before suddenly looked pretty good.

In my opinion, written offers trump verbal offers every time.

(C) Susan Pruden.