You've worked hard on your home so that it would show well for your first open house. The rooms are freshly painted, everything is neat and tidy, the yard is free of clutter, the grass is green, everything is perfect. People are coming in and out, and raving about your home. Then, the moment you've been waiting for - someone presents you with an offer for your home. Even though this is what you've been planning, you're still surprised - what do you do with an offer?

Here are some tips to keep in mind when the time comes to deal with that offer.

The best scenarios is buyers who are willing to put in an offer for your house that have some type of lender letter with them. They've done their homework and have gotten pre-approved for a mortgage. If they do not have mortgage in hand, but are still interested in putting in an offer for your house, there is another route you can go in order to make it easier for that offer to go through.

To cover both types of buyers, in advance you can make an arrangement with a willing lender to be at your house during showings and open houses to assist potential homebuyers with their pre-approval, and to help them figure out if they can afford it or not. You can greet your potential buyers at the door and introduce them to the lender willing to help out, and they can direct all financial questions to them. This way, that burden is taken off of you and put somewhere else so you can concentrate on the task at hand, which is showing off your lovely home. Another option is to have on hand a list of contacts for mortgage brokers, or banking institutions that you can immediately give to potential buyers. The easier you make it for buyers, the quicker your sale will be. Some buyers are intimidated when looking at FSBO homes, so you need to look like you've covered all your bases.

You also want to discuss with a homebuyer who gives you an offer how you want to handle the contract after the fact. If you have an attorney, or if they want to use their own attorney, you need to settle on this in order to draw up the contract to both parties' liking. Figure out how you want to handle it before the offer is even made, especially if the buyer is confused with the whole situation. Again, do your homework ahead of time and be prepared. Know who your attorney will be, have contact information ready, and you can always be the one that has the paperwork drawn up - the buyer will of course then have their own attorney check it all over.

This is just one piece of the extra large pie that is selling your home leading up to the open house. But by getting your homework done ahead of time, you will be prepared to take the step from open house to being under contract for the home, and then completing the transaction.

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