Buying a house may be one of the biggest events in your life, and you will want to be certain you are ready and prepared for this event. Once you find the house you would like to purchase, your real estate agent will help you prepare a purchase offer for it. This can make some people nervous, simply because there is no turning back once the seller accepts an offer, but there are things you can do to make sure you are ready for this event. Here are three questions that can be helpful to evaluate as you are getting ready to write up your purchase offer.

Are you positive you want to pay the amount you offered?

Before you make your offer, you will really need to think about the amount you want to pay for the house, because if the seller accepts your offer, you will have to go through with the deal. Because of this, you should evaluate your budget thoroughly to make sure you will be able to afford the payments on the house as well as all the other expenses you will have with owning the place. If you feel like the seller might accept a little less than what you were planning on offering, you may want to lower your offer amount by a little.

Have you added all the necessary contingencies?

Secondly, you should sit down with your real estate agent and discuss the contingencies you could add to your offer. A contingency is almost like a request or a requirement that must be met in order for you to buy the house. If you haven't added any contingencies, you may want to add some. A common one added to most purchase offers is a financing contingency, which means you can back out of the deal without losing anything if you cannot qualify for a loan to buy the house. You could also add a contingency that states you want the seller to leave certain things with the house, such as the curtains or appliances.

Are you fully prepared to move within the time frame listed on the offer?

The other thing to think about is when you plan on moving in. A purchase offer will usually state a rough estimate for a time frame of closing and moving in. Is the date you listed realistic for your situation? Will you be able to handle moving by this date? You should think this through before you make your offer, just to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get the things done that you need to get done.

Taking enough time to thoroughly evaluate your decision is vital when making any type of big purchase. If you have questions or concerns about this decision, talk to an agent in your city.