Receiving offers on your home. What happens now?

• 10/9/23

What You Need to Know About the Most Critical Stage of the Selling Process

Once offers start coming in on your home, things get exciting—but this is also when the process can become stressful for many sellers. You might not receive exactly what you hoped for right away, and that’s totally normal. This is where having a strong, experienced negotiator on your side really matters.

Hi, I’m Brendan Moran with Five Star Real Estate, and here’s what to expect once we start getting offers on your home.

The Most Critical—and Tricky—Part of Selling

Receiving an offer is great, but not all offers are created equal. Here’s what we do right away:

We call every buyer’s agent who submitted an offer—whether there’s one or several.
We verify the buyer’s financial strength: Is their loan pre-approval solid? Do they have proof of funds? Are they truly committed to buying your home?
We also evaluate the buyer’s agent. A good buyer’s agent makes a huge difference—they manage expectations, keep their clients calm, and help the deal move forward smoothly.

Most sellers don’t realize how important the buyer’s agent is until something goes wrong. That’s why we don’t just vet the buyer—we vet their representation, too.

Why Strategy and Experience Matter

Once we’ve gathered all the facts, we advise you on your options. Every situation is different, but here are a few common approaches:

Accept the best offer right away
Counteroffer just one
Send multiple counteroffers to see who improves

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Our job is to give you honest advice based on experience, the current market, and the strength of each buyer’s offer.

It’s important to remember: we don’t control the buyers. We can present counteroffers or negotiate terms, but there’s no guarantee they’ll respond how we want. That’s why strategy matters.

Sometimes the best decision is to take the strong offer in front of you. Other times, it’s worth pushing a little further. We help you make those calls based on what’s best for your goals.

Once You Accept an Offer: Escrow Begins

Once you sign the paperwork and both parties agree, you’re officially in escrow. This starts a whole new phase of the process—inspections, appraisals, disclosures, and timelines. (We cover that in another article.)

Bottom line? This is the stage where a great real estate agent makes all the difference. We guide you, protect your interests, and help you make smart, informed decisions every step of the way.