The buying process

Nice little pick up in the market this week..I have four accepted offers with three inspections already done. The Orange County Association of Realtors has actually shown a 6% price increase in the average price of Orange County Homes.
What I want to do here is take the reader through the real estate buying process..Buyers first.
When a Realtor takes you around to several different houses and you find one you like, you put in an "offer". Basically, its an outline of the price you want to pay, the amount of down payment, a description of the financing and a representation of what you are buying (described in the listing).
The offer then gets presented to the seller and is usually negotiated in a back and forth, offer-counter offer scenario until we have an agreed upon price. Once that price is accepted by BOTH parties, then the offer is signed and the buyer orders a "home inspection". More to come...