How Long Does It Take to Hear Back From a House Offer?

The period of waiting after submitting a house offer can be filled with anticipation for prospective homebuyers. This time is a significant part of the home-buying journey. Understanding its dynamics can help manage expectations and reduce stress.

Typical Response Timelines

After a home offer is submitted, sellers typically respond within 24 to 72 hours. While no universal legal requirement exists for how quickly a seller must respond, this timeframe allows sellers to review offer details and consider their options.

Buyers can include an expiration date in their offer to encourage a quicker decision. If the seller does not respond by this specified deadline, the offer can become void. Even with a set deadline, various factors can influence how promptly a seller communicates their decision.

Factors Affecting the Response Time

Several elements can influence how quickly a seller responds to a house offer. Market conditions play a significant role; in a seller’s market, where demand for homes is high and inventory is low, sellers may receive multiple offers and take more time to evaluate each one carefully. Conversely, in a buyer’s market, where there are more homes than interested purchasers, sellers might respond more quickly to secure a buyer.

The seller’s personal situation also impacts response time. A seller who needs to relocate quickly due to a job change or other urgent circumstances may respond faster than one without urgency. If there are multiple owners, or if the seller is out of town, coordinating a response can extend the waiting period. The complexity of the offer itself, including numerous contingencies such as a home inspection, financing, or the sale of the buyer’s current home, can require more time for the seller to review.

Agent communication can also affect the speed of response. Responsive listing agents and buyer’s agents facilitate quicker exchanges of information. External factors like weekends, holidays, or offers submitted late in the week can also cause delays. Finally, if the seller receives multiple offers, they might take longer to respond as they compare terms, prices, and contingencies.

What to Do While Waiting for a Response

While waiting for a response, homebuyers can take proactive steps to manage the process and their expectations. Trust your real estate agent, as they are actively working on your behalf, communicating with the seller’s agent, and will relay any updates. Avoid making other offers or commitments until a clear response is received on your current offer.

Buyers can also use this time to prepare for potential next steps. This includes reviewing the home inspection process, understanding financing details, and considering various counter-offer scenarios. If your offer is accepted, you will typically need to deposit earnest money, often 1% to 3% of the purchase price, into an escrow account within a few days of acceptance. Staying readily available to your agent for any questions or updates is also helpful.

Understanding the Outcome of Your Offer

The waiting period concludes with one of several possible outcomes for your house offer. The most favorable outcome is offer acceptance. Upon acceptance, the process moves to securing financing, depositing earnest money, and scheduling a home inspection. Earnest money, a good-faith deposit typically held by a neutral third party like an escrow company, demonstrates the buyer’s commitment and is later applied to closing costs or the down payment.

Alternatively, the seller might issue a counter-offer. This means they accept some terms but propose changes to others, such as the price, closing date, or specific contingencies. Buyers then have the option to accept the counter-offer, make their own counter-offer, or reject it.

An offer rejection means the seller has declined the offer outright. While disappointing, this outcome frees the buyer to pursue other properties. Finally, a lack of response can also signify an effective rejection, particularly if a specified response deadline in the offer passes. Sellers are not legally obligated to respond to every offer, especially if it is significantly below their expectations or if they are considering multiple offers. In such cases, buyers may need to decide whether to submit a revised offer or move on to other homes.