The seller’s agent SHOULD respond to your offer within the time frame indicated on the offer or inform your real estate professional if additional time is needed for the seller to respond.
The seller can respond to your offer in one of three ways…
ACCEPT THE OFFER
REJECT THE OFFER
COUNTER THE OFFER
An offer acceptance is of course what you’ll always hope for and constitutes a major first hurdle.
Unfortunately, offers can also be rejected and for a number of reasons for which the seller has no obligation to disclose. As a result, you’ll always want to make sure your offer is your best offer given the circumstances. You may only have one shot at your offer being accepted, especially if the property is highly desirable or in a market where there are plenty of buyers and few properties. CONSIDER THIS….don’t make the assumption that you will always have the opportunity to respond to a counter offer.
Speaking of counter offers, they can be the next best thing to an acceptance as it indicates the seller is willing to entertain your offer with further negotiations. Counter offers are not limited to the offer price, however, a counter offer on the price is quite common. For example, the seller could request a later or earlier closing date, reduce the amount of the concession or adjust the request for repairs.
A really great real estate professional should be able to guide you through this process, brief you ahead of time on the possible counter offer scenarios and make sure you have a plan B upon placing the offer. You will want to be readily available with a response…after all…TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.