What happens when you receive an offer on your property?
Queensland has a buyer-friendly contract process.
This means that the buyer has several opportunities to terminate the sale prior to settlement.
However, once the seller signs the contract, they typically don’t have an opportunity to terminate the transaction.
For this reason, it is critical that you clearly understand – and are in agreement with – the final terms of the contract.
It is the job of the listing agent and your appointed legal representative to explain the terms of the contract and all the implications associated with those terms.
They will help you plan and negotiate adjustments as needed.
When reviewing the offer, some of the key points you’ll want to consider are:
- Purchase price
- Finance condition
- Deposit payment amount
- Inspection clauses
- Hazardous materials (asbestos, lead-based paint)
- Title reviews
- Settlement date
As a seller, you have three options upon receipt of the offer:
- Accept the offer as written.
- Counter the offer on those terms and conditions which are not acceptable to you.
- Do not respond to the offer.
Acceptance of the offer as written puts buyer and seller in a position of mutual acceptance and triggers the counting of days for the purposes of deadlines.
A counteroffer from the seller to the buyer allows the buyer a specified period of time to accept the seller’s offer.
After which point the offer expires with no contractual obligation on the part of either the buyer or the seller.
Upon receipt of a counteroffer from the seller, a buyer has the same options as those available to the seller when reviewing the original offer.
Acceptance of the offer as written, a counteroffer to the other party, or a decision not to respond to the offer.
The number of counteroffers made between buyer and seller are limited only by the interest of the parties to continue to negotiate toward an agreement.
Not responding to an offer at all is always an option, although one not often seen.
Typically a lack of response indicates a feeling on the seller’s part that the offer is simply too low in price, or too unacceptable on some other term, to merit attention.
Your legal representative should provide guidance as you review offers, and can assist you in determining if the terms and conditions offered are appropriate for your marketplace.
Ultimately, with your agent’s input, you will be in a position to determine the response to the buyer that will see your home sold on mutually agreeable terms.
Once the offer has been agreed-upon, we provide you with a calendar of condition dates.
This document will detail all the activities which need to occur between the date of the contract and the time the buyers take possession of your home.
It’s an easy to reference, visual tool to help you stay on track.
How We Work
We pride ourselves on creating long-lasting relationships with our clients. Our utmost goal is to help our clients make wise real estate decisions. We take care of all the details involved with marketing and showing and selling a home.
We encourage our clients to be involved with creating the marketing plan most suited for their property. We offer our clients the highest level of service by providing them an in-depth analysis of their needs, wants, and of course what is realistic for them.
Communication is the key to our success working together as a team. We strongly suggest that a legal representative should be appointed at the time of listing your property for sale, that way you will be ready for an offer as soon as its presented.
