Missing out on a property that you have your heart set on can be a very disappointing experience. Quite often this happens because the offer process is misunderstood. When making an offer to purchase a property, it is important to be aware of the following:

• the agent will submit all offers to the vendor;
• the property remains on the market while the vendor considers all offers;
• an offer may be made subject to a finance clause, i.e. bank approval, or builders report;
• you can make your offer conditional on certain items (such as a dishwasher) being included or excluded from the contract. Any special conditions such as these must be written into the contract and agreed to by both parties;
• a contract must contain details of the property, the price, deposit and settlement terms;
• once the offer is made in writing, it is then up to the vendor whether or not to accept it or whether to give other parties the opportunity to increase their offers;
• the agent is not obliged to give you another opportunity to increase your offer;
• the vendor is under no obligation until they accept the buyer’s offer by counter-signing the contract;
• an offer is not binding on both parties until the buyer and seller have agreed to the contract, and the acceptance of the offer has been conveyed to both parties;
• once you and the vendor agree on all conditions, they are signed with all changes initialed and you have then made a conditional agreement.

Please let us look at your Contract BEFORE you sign anything!!!!