Submit an offer

When you find the perfect home for your buyer, submitting an offer on their behalf has never been easier, thanks to the SmartMLS Offers platform.

There is a big blue Submit Offer button towards the top of the following connectMLS reports:

• Full Detail
• Full Detail w/ Photos
• Full Detail- Client
• Full Detail w/ Photos- Client

Note: there is no integration between SmartMLS Offers and Matrix. You will only see the Submit Offer button in connectMLS.

Clicking Submit Offer immediately opens the SmartMLS Offers platform and begins the process of creating and submitting an offer to the list agent and the seller(s). There are several major benefits to this feature, including:

• Tight integration with connectMLS- you don't have to open a separate program to begin submitting an offer. Just click the button on the listing report and it opens the Offers tool.
• Relevant information from the listing is passed along to the Offers program and automatically populates to the contract. For instance, if the home was built after 1978, the Lead Disclosure form is not required, since lead was removed from paint in 1978. 
• Similarly, riders that are necessary for the transaction (but are sometimes initially forgotten about) will automatically be added to the contract based on the property's characteristics. If the property has a septic system, the septic rider will automatically be included in the contract as opposed to having to be manually added as separate documents.
  
   

When SmartMLS Offers opens, you'll see the following screen (this is the same screen that comes up when you click on Create Offer from the Dashboard):

1. The listing's information (current list price, address, MLS# and list agent) displays prominently in the upper left.
2. Choose the type of contract you'd like to use when presenting your offer: Real Estate Purchase Contract or Purchase Agreement Binder.
3. Enter the purchase price your buyer would like to offer.
4. Select the buyer's agent this offer is being created on behalf of.*
5. Click Create to continue.
    

* There is a built-in impersonation feature in Offers that allows you to submit offers on behalf of another agent. This is ideal for admins and personal assistants who often perform work on behalf of agents within their office. Impersonation abilities are based on your connectMLS permissions (but controlled within the Offers program). If you are an admin that will be submitting offers on behalf of an agent, you'll log into Offers as yourself and then use this drop-down at the beginning of the offer submission process to switch to the appropriate agent. 

Note: this article is not designed to go over every field on every section of the offer submission process. We will highlight the most important parts of each section, as well as those features that make SmartMLS Offers such a unique and powerful tool.

The process of creating and submitting an offer has been streamlined and is essentially a matter of moving through the sections on the left side of the screen:

The workflow is purposefully constructed to guide you through the offer creation and submission process in the most logical and efficient way possible. As you finish one section and move onto the next, your work is automatically saved. Completed sections are noted with a green check mark. Any sections that are incomplete or require attention have a red exclamation point. You can always go back to a section you've already completed if you need to make any adjustments.

Note: The Offers platform has safeguards in place that are designed to prevent you from submitting an invalid offer. You will not be able to submit an offer if any of the required fields are skipped or incomplete.

There is a header across the top of every section that displays the property information (primary photo, address list price, MLS number, list agent) as well as the amount your buyer is offering:

Regardless of where you are in the offer submission process, you will always see the relevant information for the offer you are preparing.

Buyer Information

• You can enter as many buyers as necessary (just click the Add new button in the top right).
• Buyers can be an individual or an organization (such as an LLC).
• You can also enter the buyer's attorney's information. Once the offer is accepted, the attorney will be included when the fully executed contract is distributed to all parties.

Payment Schedule

• The Offer Synopsis section (on the right) updates in real-time when you add/edit information in the Payment Schedule section.
• Loan Proceeds Amount field is how much they are getting for financing. It is not the same as the down payment. 
• Earnest Money Deposit is the initial earnest money they are depositing.
• If the buyer wants to make an additional deposit, enter it in the Additional Deposit field and then use the next field (Days allowed before additional deposit is due) to enter the time period.
• If there is a seller credit, use the Seller Credit field. 
  Note: seller credits are not subtracted from the balance due.
• You cannot leave any of the fields blank. If there is not an actual dollar amount or percentage to enter in the field (for instance, the buyer is not making an additional deposit), enter 0 in the field rather than completely skipping over it.
   

Financing

• If a loan proceeds amount is entered in the Payment Schedule section, the Funding Type field at the top of the Financing section defaults to Financing and the Use a Mortgage Contingency toggle switch is set to Yes.
• If no loan proceeds amount is entered, the Funding Type field defaults to Cash (the remainder of the Financing screen is greyed out).
• The Loan Commitment Amount should autofill from the Loan Proceeds Amount field (from the Payment Schedule section).
• The Use Prevailing Rate check box is selected by default, but you can de-select it and manually enter the Loan Rate.

Inspections

• The Inspection Contigency field defaults to Yes. You can choose the date from the calendar or enter a number of days.
• If the property has a well (this is pulled directly from the listing on the MLS), the Well/Water Inspection check box will automatically be selected. This feature also applies to Lead and Septic.

Contingencies

• The Contingencies section is a checklist of riders that are built into the contract. Any riders you select will automatically be added to the contract in the proper location.
• The Insulation Disclosure check box applies only to new homes and is tied to the new construction/under construction label on the listing. If the property is not new/under construction, you won't be able to select the rider. 

Terms & Conditions

• Use the Closing Date calendar icon to select the desired closing date (either using a specific date or a number days).
• Any text that autofills to the Included Property and Excluded Property fields can be edited or overwritten, if necessary.

Documents

• This section is only for documents (such as a pre-qualification letter) that the buyers want to include with their offer.
• Any documents that have been uploaded to the listing (disclosures, floor plans, etc.) automatically import from connectMLS.
• When uploading a document, you have the option of marking it either a Financial or Other Document.
  
                                    
   
• Documents must be in PDF format.

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Once you have moved through all of the sections, the Summary screen will appear:

• If all of the required fields have been completed, there will be a Send for Buyer Approval button in the upper right corner.
• If there are errors, required fields that have been skipped or anything else that would make the offer invalid, the Send for Buyer Approval button will not be there. Instead, you can use the three dots to update the offer and correct any issues that are holding up the submission of the offer.
• Hovering over the icons in the Inspections Required section (on the right side of the screen) will identify what each represents.
  
   

• Clicking the Details tab at the top center of the screen gives you access to all of the documents that imported from the listing in connectMLS:
   

  

   

• You can click on any of the documents and view them directly within SmartMLS Offers.
• The fully rendered version of the contract appears beneath the listing documents. This includes all of the fields that you have manually completed during the process.
• Any optional fields that were skipped will display the text No additional language provided.
• Contingencies and Riders will appear towards the bottom of the contract.
  
   

• Click the Contacts tab in the upper right to review everyone involved in the contract: buyer(s), buyer's agent, seller(s), seller's agent. Attorney information is also included, but you will only see the attorney information for your side of the transaction until the offer is accepted. Once the offer is accepted, all contact information is visible to all parties:
   

  

  
  
  
   

• If all required fields have been completed, you will see the following window after clicking Send for Buyer's Approval:
                                               

  

  
  
  
  This gives your buyer a chance to review the entire offer before it gets sent to the seller and list agent.
  
   

• After clicking Send, you're brought back to the Offer Details screen. The status changes from Draft to Pending Client Approval:
                   

  

  
  
   

• The offer is sent for review to all buyers simultaneously (the email comes from notifications@propkit.io):

  

  
   

  After clicking View Offer, they will be prompted to create a SmartMLS Sign account:
   

  

  
   

  They must enter a valid email address and create a username and password that conforms to the specific criteria (highlighted in orange below):

  

  
  These are the login credentials they'll use going forward to access their SmartMLS Offers account.
  
  Once they've completed these steps, the buyer can login and review the offer their agent created. If it looks good to them, they can approve it and it will be sent to the seller and list agent. If there are multiple buyers, the first one to login and approve the offer triggers it to be sent to the seller and their agent.

  The following email is sent to the buyer and buyer's agent after the buyer approves the offer (it is simply a confirmation to the buyer and buyer's agent that the offer that was written up by the buyer's agent has been approved by the buyer and has been officially submitted to the seller and list agent): 

  

The ball is now in the seller's court.