Offer dates in real estate: What buyers and sellers need to know

Timing can be everything in a competitive real estate market. While a buyer’s offer includes important components such as the price, terms, contingencies, timelines, and even an offer letter, sometimes what matters most is when the seller receives the offer.

Many times, a seller doesn’t review offers as they come in, but they set a date when they’ll review all offers submitted. That can shape how and when a buyer makes an offer to gain the best leverage or avoid bidding wars. So, understanding offer dates can make the difference between an offer being accepted or not.

What is an offer review date?

An offer review date is when the seller plans to review all offers made on their home. Instead of reviewing offers as they come in, all offers will be reviewed on the date stated.

For sellers, an offer date allows them to see all offers at once and compare each one to find the best offer for them. However, this doesn’t mean that sellers must accept an offer on that date. If a great offer comes in before the offer date they set, they can accept it.

The benefit of an offer date is that it adds urgency for buyers to submit an offer. Usually, an offer date gives buyers enough time to tour the home and create their best offer to win potential bidding wars.

How sellers decide on an offer date

A seller isn’t required to have an offer date; it is optional. However, they can be beneficial when demand is high, creating even more urgency. Here are some common scenarios.

• Listing in a hot market. In a competitive market, a seller may set an offer date that’s shortly after the listing date. This gives buyers time to tour the home and prepare an offer, but it also creates a sense of urgency.
• Limited buyer interest. If the seller’s real estate agent believes there won’t be a great demand for a home, a seller might choose not to set an offer date. This lets them evaluate offers as they come in and adjust their price if offers are scarce.
• Coordinating with personal timelines. If a seller is buying another home at the same time they’re selling, they might need to sell their home by a specific date so they can close on their new home. Setting an offer date helps them plan.
• Weekend exposure strategy. Some sellers list their home midweek and set an offer date for the following week. That gives them a short timeline but also allows them to show the home on a weekend.
• Testing for preemptive offers. Sometimes, sellers intentionally set a future offer date but stay open to preemptive offers. If a buyer makes a strong early offer, the seller may accept it before the offer date.

Ways buyers decide when to put in an offer

Submitting an offer on a home is a big decision. So, buyers should consider many factors, including their budget, the home’s value, how competitive the market is, any contingencies they want, and more. If the seller has set an offer review date, all these also influence the best time to submit an offer.

Say an offer date is set for June 1st. That doesn’t mean all offers need to be submitted on that date. For various reasons, a buyer could choose to make an offer before, on, or even after June 1st. Here are some pros and cons for each.

Submitting before a house’s offer review date

This is known as making a preemptive offer. A buyer submits an offer before the seller is officially set to review all the offers that have been submitted.

Pros

The advantages to submitting an offer before the review date, also known as making a preemptive offer, include:

• You’ll have less competition.
• You could prevent a different buyer from getting their offer accepted.
• You could entice the seller by putting an expiration date on the offer.

Cons

There are disadvantages to making a preemptive offer as well, including:

• You must make an offer the seller can’t refuse because it’s so good, like offering more than the asking price.
• You could waste time if the seller refuses to review it before the offer ends.
• You rush your offer without considering if you really want to buy that specific home or if you can afford it.

Submitting after an offer review date

This strategy involves letting the offer date pass before submitting an official offer. Here, the buyer is counting on no earlier offers being accepted or no earlier offers being submitted.

Pros

Sometimes buyers consider making an offer after the offer date has come and passed. In some cases, your offer won’t be compared with the others. This can be advantageous because buyers making a late offer may get a good deal because the seller is having a hard time selling.

Cons

The main disadvantage is you may lose the home even if you make the best offer. You could risk losing the home to another buyer who may have submitted their offer on time. It’s important to communicate with the seller’s listing agent if you need to submit your offer after the offer date passes.

Submitting on an exact offer review date

If a buyer believes their offer is competitive, they may choose to submit their offer on the exact offer date.

Pros

There are benefits to submitting an offer on the exact offer date. Buyers get ample time to put together the offer and work with their agent to submit their best offer. If there were early offers, they could gain insights and information from them, which can provide a competitive edge.

Cons

On the downside, submitting an offer on the exact offer date can be risky. While the deadline does give the buyer more time to craft their offer so it appeals to the seller, the seller could accept an offer before the offer end date.

Tips for navigating offer date challenges

Whether you’re a seller considering offers from buyers or a buyer making the offer, a real estate transaction can be an anxiety-inducing event. That’s only natural since there is a lot of money at stake and many details to get right. Arriving at a price and terms that both sides find fair is tough. An offer date adds one more variable to the mix.

Here are some tips on how best to navigate an offer date.

For sellers

Here are some practical tips for sellers setting offer dates.

• Don’t pick the same offer date as other homes for sale in your area. This could force some buyers to choose one or the other and discourage offers.
• Do choose a unique date that gives buyers enough time to tour your home and make a well-reasoned offer.
• Don’t ignore strong offers that come in before the offer date. You are allowed to accept offers before the offer date.
• Do create urgency with your offer date. Make it far enough away to allow buyers to tour the home, but not so far out that they lose any sense of urgency.
• Don’t take only price into consideration. There are many factors in a real estate offer, and you should consider each one.
• Do make sure you have enough time set aside to review and consider all offers. If it’s a seller’s market vs. a buyer’s market, you may be flooded with offers which is a nice problem to have. If you receive several strong offers, you may choose to take a backup offer behind the offer you accept. This way if the first offer falls through, you’ll have another potential buyer already in line.

For buyers

Here are some practical tips for buyers to improve their chances of submitting a successful offer.

• Do make the offer even stronger with a preapproval letter. A Verified Approval¹ from Rocket Mortgage provides a full verification of income, assets, and credit. With this, a buyer knows that you are serious and able to buy their home.
• Don’t forget that just because the seller reviews the offers on a certain date, they don’t have to accept one on that date. Expect it to take a few days.
• Do submit an offer the seller can’t refuse if you’re in a seller’s market. That may mean offering above asking price, waiving contingencies and seller concessions, and adding an escalation clause, which says you’ll pay a higher price or improve your offer another way if a better offer comes in.
• Don’t skip due diligence. Unless you have a good reason, don’t limit contingencies or inspections.
• Do work with your real estate agent to make the offer and negotiate. Use their expertise and knowledge of the current market to help you make a strong offer.

The bottom line: Use an offer date as a guide post

Offer dates are not hard rules, they are strategic tools. For sellers, they can create urgency or set a date that helps them plan. For buyers, they provide a timeline to help them manage their home shopping and prepare strong offers.

Timing is one factor in a successful real estate offer. Others include price, contingencies, seller and buyer goals, and more. Understanding those, as well as how offer dates can benefit or restrict you, is vital to a successful real estate deal.

If you’re ready to start looking for a house, you can get preapproved for a loan with Rocket Mortgage.

¹ Participation in the Verified Approval program is based on an underwriter’s comprehensive analysis of your credit, income, employment status, assets and debt. If new information materially changes the underwriting decision resulting in a denial of your credit request, if the loan fails to close for a reason outside of Rocket Mortgage’s control, including, but not limited to satisfactory insurance, appraisal and title report/search, or if you no longer want to proceed with the loan, your participation in the program will be discontinued. If your eligibility in the program does not change and your mortgage loan does not close due to a Rocket Mortgage error, you will receive the $1,000. This offer does not apply to new purchase loans submitted to Rocket Mortgage through a mortgage broker. Rocket Mortgage reserves the right to cancel this offer at any time. Acceptance of this offer constitutes the acceptance of these terms and conditions, which are subject to change at the sole discretion of Rocket Mortgage. Additional conditions or exclusions may apply.