It is a rare occasion when a seller accepts a buyer’s offer as written on the first submission. A seller may counter for many reasons such as the price, earnest money, the closing date, or contingencies.
All counter offers should be in writing to eliminate confusion and a counter offer is not valid unless executed at both parties. Until the counter offer is fully executed it can be withdrawn by either party at any time.
Just as a seller is not required to accept the buyer’s original offer, a buyer may choose to reject the seller’s counter offer or in return the buyer can issue another counter offer. This process will continue until both parties reach agreement or until one party retires from the negotiation process and both parties move on to other endeavors.
Once a counter offer is executed by both parties; the terms of the counter will then supersede any terms that were not agreed upon in the original counter. It is imperative in this process that no term was left on the table that has not been put in writing in the final counter.
This is a process that is carefully managed by your realtor.
