How Do You Counter an Offer on Your House?
3 min read · Last updated 2026-10-08
Change only the terms you'd be willing to lose this buyer over. Sending a counteroffer voids the buyer's original offer, so you can't go back and accept it, the National Association of Realtors says in its consumer guide on multiple offers. Your counter can ask for a higher price, or keep the price and change the timing or the contingencies. Give it a deadline, too. On the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract, the buyer has 2 days after the day your counter is delivered to accept it, unless another time is stated. Cash Flow Deals makes two offers, and you choose between them.
| Countering a buyer's offer | Premium offer | Cash offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the number comes from | The buyer's offer, then each counter | A higher number, paid by a real FHA or conventional buyer through novation | Our as-is number. Cash Flow Deals buys the house |
| Listing and showings | Listed, with showings | The home may be listed during inspection. A licensed agent brings each buyer. Showings are scheduled ahead and take 10 to 15 minutes | No listing. One walk-through by our team |
| Inspection period | The days written into your contract | 15 business days | 15 business days |
| Closing | The date in your contract | 45 days or less, on a date you help pick | 45 days or less, on a date you help pick |
| If the buyer's financing falls through | Your contract's financing terms decide what happens next | You can still take the Cash offer | Not applicable: we're the buyer |
Pick the Terms Worth Losing This Offer Over
Countering costs you the offer you already have. Once you send one, the buyer's original offer is void and you can't go back and accept it, according to the National Association of Realtors' consumer guide on multiple offers.
Price is only one of the terms. The same guide says a counter can ask for a higher price, or keep the price and change the timing or the contingencies. And the strongest offer, it adds, may not be the one with the highest price.
On price, check the numbers first. In NAR's August 2026 survey, Realtors reported that 16% of homes sold above list price, down from 20% a year earlier. Most didn't. Those Realtors' most recent sales drew an average of 2.1 offers, against 2.5 a year before.
In Florida, single-family homes that sold in August 2026 went for a median 96.0% of their original list price, up from 94.8% a year earlier, Florida Realtors reports. That measure starts at the first list price. So it counts price cuts made before any offer, plus whatever moved in negotiation.
Our view: an actual offer is better evidence of your price than any guess. It's the market answering. And buyers leave when a price doesn't match the condition they saw in person, so a price counter has to fit the house they walked through.
Write Your Own Deadline Into the Counter
A counter with no deadline written in still has one under the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract: paragraph 3(a) says that unless otherwise stated, time for acceptance of any counter-offer is within 2 days after the day the counter-offer is delivered.
Those are calendar days. Weekends count. The form's Standard F pushes a deadline that lands on a weekend or a national legal public holiday to the next calendar day that isn't one, but it leaves out the time for acceptance in paragraph 3. Deliver a counter on a Friday, and the buyer gets no extra days for the weekend.
That default applies only when nothing else is stated. So the deadline is yours to write. Pick one you can live with if the buyer lets it pass.
Paragraph 3 also sets the contract's Effective Date: under 3(b), it's the date when the last one of you signs or initials and delivers the offer or the final counter-offer.
Other states use other forms. Read yours for any deadline on accepting a counter before you send one.
Choose Your Next Move Before the Buyer Answers
A counter cuts both ways. The National Association of Realtors' consumer guide on multiple offers says a counteroffer could result in a stronger offer, but it could also lead buyers who feel they've already made a fair offer to look at other homes instead.
Plan for that before you send it. Cash Flow Deals makes two offers, and you choose:
1. Cash offer: our as-is number. Cash Flow Deals buys the house and closes. No listing, only one walk-through by our team. There's no listing commission to us.
2. Premium offer: a higher number, paid by a real FHA or conventional buyer through novation. You sign with us at the number you agree to and let us bring in a buyer in our place. During the 15 business days of inspection, the home may be listed, with a licensed agent bringing each buyer. Showings are scheduled ahead and take 10 to 15 minutes. The buyer we bring in signs a new contract directly with you. Their lender funds it, and title transfers once. We're paid as a separate line item on the closing statement. If the buyer's financing falls through, you can still take the Cash offer.
3. Inspection: 15 business days on either offer.
4. Closing: 45 days or less on either offer, on a date you help pick.
You aren't bound to anything until you and Cash Flow Deals both sign a written contract. You can read it with an attorney first.
In our view, the higher number comes from putting your house in front of buyers whose lenders fund the purchase.
Common questions
How do sellers counter when several offers come in?
Counter one offer and hold off on the others until that buyer decides, or counter one and reject the rest. NAR's consumer guide gives those two ways, and it adds that practices vary with state and local law.
Will my agent tell buyers there are other offers?
If you agree to it. NAR's consumer guide says that with your consent, agents who are Realtors are obligated to disclose that other offers are on the table when asked.
Do Florida condos sell further below list price?
They did in August 2026. Florida townhouses and condos sold for a median 93.3% of their original list price that month, against 96.0% for single-family homes, and took a median 69 days to go under contract, against 44 days, Florida Realtors reports.
Do I have to offer concessions when I counter?
No. NAR's consumer guide says you aren't required to offer concessions, though they could lead to a better or faster offer. Put any you agree to in the purchase agreement.