If you’ve made it through the first 3 steps of the home buying process (financial inventory, choosing your real estate representation, getting pre-qualified/pre-approved for a mortgage) you know that it takes patience and diligence to purchase a home.

Once you have gotten ready to submit an offer (fourth step of the home buying process), you wish that you and your Realtor could read the seller’s mind to know exactly what type of offer they would accept. It would certainly give you an edge to know what the other offers, if any, looked like so you could beat the competing offers and get the home you want. Unfortunately that’s not the way it works, and sometimes your best offer may not stack up against the other(s), or perhaps you and the seller simply could not reach an agreement during negotiation.

So, what do you do if your offer isn’t accepted?

One thing your Realtor may do is to ask the seller’s agent or builder’s representative what it was that made your offer get rejected. While the other agent can’t go into specific details about numbers, they may be able to offer your Realtor some insight into what would have made your offer stronger against the competitors. If you are able to get an answer, you and your Realtor will be able to use it and keep in mind what areas you can improve upon the next time you get ready to make an offer. 

Do not get discouraged that it didn’t work out for you this time. Patience and diligence are required in the home buying process, especially if you are in a seller’s market. It could take multiple offers on multiple homes before something finally sticks.

Perhaps you already had other homes in mind that could be a second or third choice for you. Continue on your path with home shopping and showings scheduled by your Realtor, and continue to follow all necessary protocol to protect your loan like keeping your credit steady and avoiding making any large purchases.

Written by Blair Hayes, REALTOR®