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On the market · 6 steps · free · the same words a Keighbor seller reads
Why this page existsAn offer is a whole set of terms, and the price is only the loudest of them.
Key takeaways
You have a side-by-side and a net-proceeds estimate for every offer.
You have verified pre-approval or proof of funds for every offer you are seriously considering.
You know your priorities and what you are willing to trade.
You have picked a primary offer, and a backup if you want one.
You have a fully signed purchase agreement, or a clean no.
You have either signed something you feel good about, or moved on.
1
Compare offer terms
You're done when: You have a side-by-side and a net-proceeds estimate for every offer.
Offer price is one part of an offer. Estimated proceeds, contingencies, financing, timing, earnest money, and requested concessions can also affect the terms and likelihood of closing.
How to do it
Build a side-by-side of every offer. The columns are price, financing type, earnest money, contingencies, requested credits, closing date, and possession.
Work out your estimated net for each: price minus requested concessions, transfer tax, mortgage payoff, and prorations. Your title company or attorney can produce a net sheet per offer.
Weigh certainty. Fewer contingencies and stronger financing generally mean higher odds of closing.
Check the timeline against your own move.
Note anything unusual: escalation clauses, appraisal-gap language, seller lease-backs, contingencies you have not seen before.
Worth knowing
Cash buyers pay about 10% less on average (UC San Diego). That discount is the price of certainty, and whether it is worth it depends on your situation.
A cash offer slightly below a financed one can net more once certainty and carrying costs are in the picture. Or it may not - run the numbers.
Waived or shortened contingencies raise your odds of closing. Read them carefully rather than counting them.
What it costs
Free. A title company net sheet is usually free too
Where to check
A written net sheet from your title company or attorney, per offer
2
Verify buyer financing
You're done when: You have verified pre-approval or proof of funds for every offer you are seriously considering.
Financing failure is one of the most common ways a deal falls through. Roughly 5 to 6% of pending transactions failed to close in recent years. Verifying up front is how you avoid accepting an offer that later collapses.
How to do it
Confirm the pre-approval letter is real: dated within 30 days, on lender letterhead, in the buyer's name, for at least the offer amount.
Note the loan type - conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, or cash. Each has different appraisal and property-condition standards.
Call the lender directly on a number you look up yourself, not the one printed on the letter, and confirm the buyer is pre-approved. It takes five minutes.
Confirm the buyer's down payment and reserves.
For a cash buyer, verify proof of funds with the bank if the letter looks unusual at all.
Worth knowing
A preapproval isn't a guarantee of final loan approval. Changes in a buyer's finances or employment can affect underwriting.
FHA, VA, and USDA loans carry property-condition standards that can trigger required repairs. That shows up at the appraisal.
Once you have picked an offer, asking the lender "is there anything you are still waiting on?" is a normal, welcome question. Ask it again a few days before the appraisal and loan deadlines.
What it costs
Free
Where to check
The lender, called on a number you looked up independently
3
Know your negotiation tools
You're done when: You know your priorities and what you are willing to trade.
Negotiation involves far more than price. Knowing every lever you have - including a rent-back, if your move-out and your next home do not line up - makes it possible to trade something cheap to you for something valuable to the buyer, instead of only arguing about the number.
How to do it
List your levers: price, closing date, earnest money, contingency lengths, concessions and credits, what conveys, and a rent-back.
Before you counter, write down what you care about most - money, timeline, or certainty - and what the buyer probably cares about most.
Look for terms that cost you less than they gain the buyer. Those are the natural places to agree.
Consider asking for higher earnest money. It signals commitment and gives you more protection if the buyer walks without cause.
Consolidate your changes into one round rather than countering repeatedly.
Worth knowing
About 44% of Q1 2025 sales included some form of seller concession (Redfin). Being asked for one is normal, not an insult.
Items that mean little to you - the washer and dryer, the patio furniture - can matter a lot to a buyer.
Every counter reopens negotiation and gives the buyer another chance to walk.
What it costs
Free
Where to check
Your own written list of priorities, made before you respond
A rent-back, if you need time after closing
A rent-back, also called post-closing occupancy or a seller lease-back, is a written agreement letting you stay in the home for a defined period after closing, usually at a daily rate. It is useful when your move-out and your next home's closing do not line up.
Work out whether you need one: a new home closing one to three weeks later, packing time, school or job-start timing, or a buyer who wants to close early.
Agree the duration. Under 30 days is more common and lenders generally prefer it.
Agree the daily rate. Common approaches are the buyer's daily carrying cost, a flat market-rent daily rate, or zero as part of the wider deal.
Cover the rest in writing: security deposit held in escrow, move-out date and what happens if you overstay, condition on move-out, insurance, utilities, and how damage is handled.
Have your title company or attorney prepare it. It is a separate document from the purchase agreement.
Worth knowing: Longer than 60 days can make the buyer's lender classify the loan as investment property rather than primary residence, which changes their terms. Under 30 to 60 days is standard.
Worth knowing: After closing you are a tenant, not the owner. The buyer owns the home, and that changes the legal relationship completely.
Worth knowing: Verbal understandings from before closing do not carry over. If it is not in the document, it does not exist.
Worth knowing: You will probably want a renter's policy for your own belongings during the period.
Typical cost: Typically the buyer's daily carrying cost. Document preparation is usually included in closing fees.
4
Handle multiple offers
You're done when: You have picked a primary offer, and a backup if you want one.
When you have more than one offer, running a structured process is standard practice and generally improves both price and certainty.
How to do it
Acknowledge every offer promptly, including ones you plan to reject. "Received, I'll respond by [time]" is enough.
Tell all buyers that multiple offers exist and set a deadline for highest and best. 24 to 48 hours is typical.
Compare the highest-and-best round side by side, the same way you compared the first round.
Look past price at escalation clauses, appraisal gaps, and clean contingencies. Those are what add certainty.
Pick a primary offer, and consider naming a backup offer in writing as a safety net.
Worth knowing
You do not have to disclose the amounts of competing offers. "There are multiple offers, please submit your best" is standard and sufficient.
An escalation clause lets a serious buyer beat competitors automatically, without you having to counter at all.
If another buyer remains interested, ask your attorney or closing professional how a written backup offer would work in your sale.
What it costs
Free
Where to check
Every offer and counter in writing, signed
5
Counter, accept, or reject
You're done when: You have a fully signed purchase agreement, or a clean no.
Common responses to an offer are to accept, counter, or reject it. A counteroffer proposes different terms. Review the contract language and get advice from an appropriately licensed professional before responding.
How to do it
Decide before you respond: your walk-away number, and which non-price terms matter most.
If you are accepting, sign and return it in writing. E-signature from the room handles this.
If you are countering, put every change in writing with a response deadline. 24 to 72 hours is standard. Focus on the changes that matter most.
If you are rejecting, do it politely and briefly. "Thank you for the offer, we've decided not to accept" is enough.
Keep everything in writing. Nothing is binding until both parties have signed identical terms.
Worth knowing
Buyers commonly counter your counter with a new deadline of their own. That is normal.
Countering everything affects whether a buyer stays engaged. Prioritise the top few points.
If negotiation stalls, stepping back for 24 hours often restarts it.
What it costs
Free
Where to check
A fully signed agreement with identical terms on both copies
The patterns nearly every negotiation follows
Some things just happen in every negotiation. Knowing them in advance means the usual back-and-forth does not read as a problem.
Expect a first offer below the eventual accepted price. That is part of the process, not an insult.
Expect a request for closing-cost credits. About 44% of 2025 sales included concessions.
Expect requests to arrive in bundles - a credit, an appliance, and a longer close together. You can accept some and decline others.
Expect silence between rounds. Buyers talk to their agents, agents talk to lenders, drafts get revised.
Watch for escalation clauses and appraisal-gap language, both of which are more common when the market is competitive or rates are volatile.
Worth knowing: Buyers who respond fast and have financing lined up tend to close more often.
Worth knowing: An offer that is unusual in several ways at once - very low earnest money, very long contingencies, a financing type that does not fit the buyer's story - is worth a closer look.
Worth knowing: Every deal is a little different. These are patterns, not rules.
Typical cost: Free.
6
Record the terms you would consider
You're done when: You have either signed something you feel good about, or moved on.
You wrote a walk-away number when you set your price. Knowing your bottom line before the pressure arrives is what keeps you clear-headed if negotiations drag.
How to do it
Read your walk-away as the whole package, not just price: price minus concessions, plus timeline, plus certainty of closing.
If an offer crosses that line and neither side will move, declining is a real option.
If you are close but not there, name one specific change that would make it work. That gives the other side something concrete to act on.
Sleep on it. Twenty-four hours rarely kills a good deal.
If you catch yourself talking yourself into something below your line, stop and take the night.
Worth knowing
Homes sell. Walking away from one offer keeps the door open for the next.
Your walk-away stays private. The moment it leaks it becomes the ceiling.
Run the room's calculator on the actual offer before you decide. The net is the number that matters, not the price.
What it costs
Free
Where to check
Your own net-proceeds estimate for the offer in front of you
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