Tender, Negotiation, and Deadline

When it comes to making an offer on a property, tenders, negotiations, and deadline sales are very similar, but there are key differences that are important to understand.

One thing to remember: real estate agents are bound by code to present all offers to the vendor. While they may provide guidance, you can submit the offer you feel is right.

Tender

The tender process is essentially a blind bidding system:

You submit your offer without knowing what others are offering.
All offers are presented together to the vendor and agent.
The vendor can accept, negotiate, or decline any of the tenders.
Tender offers are opened after the tender deadline, and the vendor may change the deadline if needed.
You are legally bound to your tender offer.
A deposit is required with your offer and is retained if your tender is accepted.

Negotiation

Negotiation works like any other real-world negotiation, with the agent acting as an intermediary:

You can negotiate price, deposit, settlement date, or conditions such as:
- Subject to finance approval
- Subject to legal approval
- Subject to insurance approval
- Subject to a satisfactory building inspection
Unlike tenders, you can withdraw your offer at any time, and no deposit is required.
Multi-offer scenarios are common here — if multiple buyers are interested, present your strongest offer.

Deadline Sale

To be honest this just means the house wants to be sold by x date. It's pretty much the same as negotiation though. Think of it this way - if the house isn't sold or offers made, it's not like they're going to suddenly not sell the house. Don't stress too much about time.

Multi-offer

A multi offer situation can only occur if the agency has more than one written offer for a property. This is typically seen post-auction pass-ins, and in price by negotiation situations. This works very similarly to price by negotiation.

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Last updated 1 month ago