Selling a house can take months in some cases, or it can happen very quickly, even within the first day you list it. No matter what, at some point, you will likely receive an offer from someone who wants to buy the house. When you receive this, you have the chance to accept it or counter it, or you could always reject it if you want. In most cases, sellers will accept it or counter it, but there are times when you should not accept the first offer you receive, and here are three of those scenarios.
You just listed the house and it is a seller's market
If it is a seller's market at the time you are selling, it means that you should have an easy time selling your house, as there will be a lot of people shopping for homes to buy. If you just signed the listing and had a showing almost immediately, you might want to think twice about accepting the offer you received, unless the offer is for the full amount you are asking for the house. If the offer is less than a full-price offer, it might be wise to wait it out a little bit or counter the offer.
The offer is significantly less than the full price of your home
Secondly, no matter how long you have been trying to sell your home, accepting the first offer is not typically a good idea if the amount is significantly less than the asking price of the home. If you have been waiting for months, however, and you receive a decent offer amount, it might be worthwhile to accept it. This is especially true if you are getting desperate to sell.
You know that another offer is about to come in
The other time when you should not accept the first offer for your home right away is when you are expecting another offer or two to come your way shortly. If you have multiple showings on your house in one week, and if several of the buyers are interested in your house, it would be worthwhile to wait for all the offers to come in before choosing the one you want to accept.
You should always carefully think through an offer when you receive it to determine how to respond to it, and you should ask your real estate agent for advice if you are not sure how to respond to it.
