Making an offer to buy a home can be simple if you understand how the agent who is selling the property prefers to manage the sale. Here are a couple of common approaches to making an offer on a property not being sold by auction.

Each state and territory in Australia has different laws on how offers can be made so make sure you check before buying so you know what to expect.

Best offer first

Basically this means you get one crack at buying the property, you will not get multiple opportunities to tweak your offer so you need to put your absolute best offer forward the first time.

Dutch auction

This is when you can make multiple offers based on feedback from the agent, it might be the price or the terms. You may be up against other interested buyers too so be sure to ask the agent where things stand so you don’t miss out.

Sale by date

An agent may set a date by which offers have to be in. The cut off date means you put in your best offer and see how you go. The deadline creates a sense of urgency for sincere buyers to make an offer.

You should also check whether agents will take verbal offers or if they have to be in writing.

Conditions of sale

The other consideration with your offer is any conditions you might have. Offers with no conditions will obviously be attractive to a seller. Conditions might include the settlement period, finance or pest checks.

The key to being successful with your offer is to work with the agent so that you get the best result and that means finding out early how the offers will be handled.

If you have been through or know other ways of making offers please share them below.