Question:
[Question from one of my homeseller-clients who is making a counter-offer to an offer we received.]
“Gary, I don’t agree to the buyer’s offer. So why am I supposed to sign it when I make a counter-offer?”
Answer:
Great question!
In a legal sense you are rejecting the offer when you make a counter-offer.
But at the same time you’re actually agreeing to most of what the buyer offered. In this case, you’re agreeing to the deposit, the financing, escrow period, the title company, and much more.
In fact, you’re only disagreeing to just a few lines of the buyer’s 10-page offer.
So when you make your counter-offer, you must sign the offer itself saying, “Seller accepts the above offer…subject to the attached counter-offer.”
This creates a paper trail of the negotiation.
Even if the negotiations get down to one point, e.g. price, we continue in the same manner.
So if the buyer counters you only on price at $500,000, and you counter back at $510,000, you still sign his counter offer. Above your signature will say, “Seller accepts the above counter offer…subject to the attached counter-offer.”
Hope that makes sense…
