Once the buyer is satisfied that he/she has included all contingencies in his offer, the real estate agent present it to the seller. At this point, the seller has one of three options:

1. Acceptance—The Seller can accept the buyer’s offer with no change or modification.
   
2. Rejection—The seller can refuse the buyer’s offer altogether. There may be several different reasons why the offer is unacceptable. If a real estate agent is involved, he or she may be able to provide the buyer with the seller’s objections. If the buyer has the ability and the willingness to resolve the objections, he/she may address each and present a new offer.
   
3. Counter To The Counter Offer—The seller may be in agreement with most of the buyer’s offer, and may be willing to negotiate. When making the counter offer the seller would indicate any changes proposed to the buyer’s original offer. Once the buyer has received the seller’s counter offer, he/she then has the options to accept, reject, or counter the counter offer.
   

It is likely that the buyer and seller will bargain over the fine points. An offer can be renegotiated several times in the form of counter offers. It is important, however, that the buyer knows when to quit. The buyer must have the ability to meet all conditions once an agreement is made.

The homebuyer should not be discouraged if the offer is not immediately accepted be the seller. Almost all real estate transactions go through the counter offer process. The negotiating process can be nerve-racking, but it is usually well worth the buyer’s time and effort in order to get the best price! A buyer’s agent can be very helpful to the buyer during the negotiating process. The agent will help the buyer determine the amount of the original offer (not too high, not too low) and will understand the finer points of negotiating a real estate offer.