Making an offer: how bidding works

An asking price is an invitation to make an offer, and nothing more. Bidding the asking price does not make you the buyer: the seller still decides whether to accept your offer or to have the broker put a counterproposal to you.

When am I in negotiation?

You are in negotiation once the seller responds to your offer with a counterproposal, or once the selling broker states plainly that they are negotiating with you. A broker who says they will discuss your offer with the seller has not started a negotiation, and you cannot compel one.

Do viewings continue while a property is under bid?

They do. A negotiation does not have to end in a sale, and the seller may want to know whether there is wider interest; the first bidder is not necessarily the best one. Other interested parties may make an offer, but they receive no answer until the running negotiation has ended. The broker does not disclose what has been bid, because that would invite overbidding.

Can the seller raise the asking price during negotiation?

Yes. Parties often bid back and forth, and the seller may decide to raise the counterproposal even while the two sides are moving toward one another, just as an interested buyer may decide to lower an offer. The seller sets the price at which the property sells, in consultation with their broker, and decides on everything else about the sale that matters to them.

When is the purchase concluded?

Once seller and buyer agree on the points that matter to them, which are the property itself, the price, the delivery date and any resolutive conditions, the sale is closed and can no longer be dissolved by one party alone. The selling broker then records what was agreed in a purchase deed. Resolutive conditions are not automatic: if you want your purchase to depend on financing, say so when you make your offer, because nothing can be added once agreement has been reached.

What is an option?

In law, an option gives one party the right to conclude a purchase by its own declaration, with the terms already agreed and the buyer holding a period to reflect. That is still usual when buying a newly built home. For an existing property the word is often used loosely, for a commitment the selling broker makes during the negotiation, such as giving an interested party a few days to think an offer over while trying not to open a negotiation with anyone else. You cannot demand an option; the selling broker decides whether to make such a commitment, and must honour one they have made.

Does being first give me any priority?

Being the first to call, the first to view or the first to bid gives you no right to be the first in negotiation. The selling broker and the seller set the sales procedure together, and the broker may change it during the negotiation, for instance when so many interested parties approach the asking price that it becomes hard to tell who the best buyer is. The broker does have to tell you what the procedure is, so if you are seriously interested, ask what your position is. It prevents a good deal of disappointment.

Everything provided by the agency and the seller is an invitation to discuss further or to make an offer, and is not an offer in itself.