Offers To Purchase Real Estate: Accept, Counter, Reject

All the decisions have been made. The listing is in the MLS and the showings have begun. Now it is time for the reason that all the work has been done: an offer to purchase has been made. What to do?

An offer to buy Real Estate is different than other offers. If a buyer asks a shopkeeper if he can buy an item and the shopkeeper accepts the offer, the buyer can still walk away.When you are dealing with an offer to buy real estate this is not the case. When a buyer makes an offer to purchase, it is in the form of a legal contract. If you, as the seller, accept the offer, the house is sold. If you counter-offer, negotiations may continue. It is important to understand that all of the offer and counter-offer activity is framed legally.

This is why it is so important that a seller should never participate in oral offers and negotiation. If you verbally accept an offer, not only does the buyer have no obligation to actually buy the house, many will say wonder if the seller might accept an even lower offer. This is why an Agent will never deal in verbal offers. If you are selling on your own, it is very good advice!

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Important Considerations - Offers To Purchase

1) If you are planning to accept an offer to buy my house, or anticipate making a counter-offer, do it soon. Prior to your acceptance or counter-offer, a buyer can withdraw their offer.

2) Any changes made to the Offer contract, or to the Purchase and Sale Agreement, require the written approval of all parties for the contract to be enforceable. Even what seem to be minor changes allow either the seller or buyer to back out of the contract.

Accepting an offer to buy the house that is too low?

Regardless of how well your house has been prepared and how sure that it is priced at fair market value, there is always the possibility of receiving a low offer to purchase the house. It could be a guess that the seller would approve it, or could be due to limits in the buyer's ability to qualify for a mortgage. In any case, the most important thing is not to take it personally. Many home negotiations without professional assistance become arguments or self esteem ego issues. It is your home, and you have put love and effort into it. Acting as if the low offer is a personal affront will not help sell the house. Either reject the offer, or make a counter-offer and leave it at that.

If you do receive a low offer, it is important to try to get as much information as you can regarding the offer. Why was the offer made at that price? What motivated the offer to purchase the house? If the offer has come from a Buyer's Agent the information you get will only be what the Buyer's Agent wants to tell you. Their responsibility is to the home buyer. They cannot disclose any information that may put their client at a disadvantage.

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