When you receive an offer on your property

It’s the moment every seller is waiting for – a potential buyer puts forward an offer to purchase your property.

But how exactly does that process work, and what happens next?

Here, we look at what happens when you receive an offer on your property.

Receiving an offer

Offers can arrive in a few ways. It might be verbal and conveyed to you by your real estate agent to feel out whether you might accept the price and conditions or it could be provided in writing, with terms and conditions attached.

For any offer to proceed and be considered formal, it will ultimately need to be in writing.

What the seller does next

Once you receive an offer, there are a couple of courses of action you can take.

You can accept it – at which point your agent will draw up a written contract of sale, including the price and any conditions.

You can reject it – If the offer has been put to you verbally, that’s as simple as indicating it doesn’t meet your sale criteria, and if it’s in writing, you simply write back saying it’s not something you’re willing to accept.

You can counter offer – A counter offer indicates the prospective purchaser is close to the mark when it comes to the price, terms and conditions, but not quite where you want them to be.

At this point your real estate agent’s professional skills will come to the fore, working with you and the buyer to achieve the right outcome that meets your needs.

Your agent will also discuss with you whether they think it’s a suitable offer to take, whether there are other interested parties, and whether they believe they can negotiate with the buyer to get the sale across the line.

Their job then becomes achieving the sales outcome you want.

After an offer’s accepted

Once the written offer is accepted, your agent will draw up the contract of sale including all the terms and conditions which you and the buyer have agreed on.

The moment that contract is signed by all parties, the clock starts ticking towards settlement.

During this phase, there will be conditions that need to be met.

Depending on the terms of the contract, these might range from a cooling off period, to the property passing a pest and building inspections, valuation by the buyer’s lender, and finance date where their loan is approved.

Each step along the way brings you closer to a sale.

What you need to do before settlement

In the interim, this is also a time period where the seller needs to start getting their ‘ducks in a row’.

If the property has a mortgage, you will need to speak with your lender about discharging your loan, you will also need a conveyancer or legal representative to handle the legal aspects of the sale, and you will need to start organising your next move.

Looking to buy or sell?

If you’re considering buying or selling a property, why not chat with one of our friendly agents on 1300 438 439 to understand the state of play in your local market?

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