I want to submit an offer on a home---how long do I give the seller to respond?
When submitting an offer to purchase a home, its customary to give the seller some time to respond. In a regular transaction, 24 hours should be sufficient. If submitting an offer on a bank-owned property or on a short-sale property, more time may be needed (usually the listing agent will make a note in the listing stating that extended response time is needed).
The seller may respond any time within that 24-hour period. They can do one of three things:
- Accept your offer!
- Flat-out refuse your offer
- Counter your offer
If they accept your offer as submitted, please make sure you receive the signed offer back from the seller as soon as possible.
Or if they counter your offer, the time frame of 24 hours is no longer in effectthe seller has refused your initial offer but is countering back to you .could be price or terms or both. Any other offers coming in may be entertained by the seller during your negotiations with each otheryou could lose the home When you receive the sellers counter, you may accept or counter backat that time putting a time frame again on the offer. And rememberthe seller has every right to accept another offer during these negotiationscant stress that strongly enough!
The bottom line: a home is not considered "pending" or "under agreement" until final agreed upon offer is signed by both the buyer and seller.