How to Make an Offer on a House: Steps, Strategy, and What to Submit

Most buyers spend months searching for a house and then have roughly 24–48 hours to decide how much to offer, what terms to include, and how to structure the entire thing. The decision that matters most in the whole home-buying process is compressed into almost no time at all.

Here's a practical breakdown of exactly what's involved, what you're actually submitting, and how to think through the price and terms decision.

What "Making an Offer" Actually Means

An offer is not a casual verbal statement or an email saying you're interested. It's a formal, written purchase contract — a legally binding document — that you sign and deliver to the seller (or the seller's agent). If the seller signs it back, you're under contract, your earnest money is due, and your contingency clocks start running.

The formal offer package typically includes:

1. The purchase agreement — the main contract specifying price, earnest money, contingencies, closing date, and inclusions/exclusions
2. A pre-approval letter from your lender (required in virtually every transaction)
3. An offer cover letter (optional, but often submitted in competitive situations — see our post on real estate offer letter templates)
4. Addendums as needed — escalation clause, appraisal gap addendum, etc.

In most US states, buyers use standardized forms from their state's REALTORS® association — filled out by their buyer's agent. If you're buying without an agent or purchasing a FSBO property, you'll need to source or draft the purchase agreement yourself.

How Much to Offer on a House

This decision comes down to two questions: what is the house actually worth, and what does this specific competitive situation require?

Valuing the house: Work from recent comparable sales — homes of similar size, condition, and location that have closed within the past 90 days. The closer the comp, the more reliable it is. Price per square foot is a starting point, but condition, lot size, and specific features matter more than raw square footage.

Reading the competitive situation:

• Home has been on the market for 30+ days with price reductions: you have negotiating leverage. Offering 3–7% below asking with specific justifications (deferred maintenance, slow market, stale comps) is reasonable.
• Home is fresh on market in a normal neighborhood: offering at or near asking for a fairly priced home is appropriate.
• Multiple offers expected within 48 hours: offering at or above asking, with clean terms and limited contingencies, is the table stakes. An escalation clause can help you compete without blindly maximizing your bid.

The number you can actually close at: Your pre-approval ceiling is not your offer ceiling. The offer ceiling is the price at which your monthly payment stays inside your budget, you have adequate cash for closing costs and reserves, and you can cover a potential appraisal gap if the home doesn't appraise at your offer price.

Structuring the Offer: Terms That Matter

Price is one variable. Terms are everything else, and in competitive markets, terms often matter as much as price.

Earnest money: Typically 1–3% of the purchase price. Offering 3–5% in a competitive situation signals financial strength. See our full guide on earnest money deposits.

Closing date: Sellers often prefer faster closings (30–35 days) because it reduces their uncertainty. If you can close in 21 days, that's a real competitive advantage. If the seller is still searching for their next home, offering flexibility on closing date — or a post-closing occupancy window — can matter more than price.

Contingencies: Your inspection period, financing period, and appraisal contingency are your legal protections. Shorter contingency periods (10-day inspection vs. 15-day, 21-day financing vs. 30-day) signal confidence and reduce the seller's risk. Don't shorten them to the point where you can't actually complete the task in time.

Inclusions/exclusions: If you're expecting appliances — refrigerator, washer/dryer — specify them in writing. "Seller to convey all appliances currently on the premises" doesn't protect you if the seller removes items before closing. List them explicitly.

Buying a House Without a Realtor

You don't legally need a buyer's agent to purchase a home. What you do need is:

1. Access to a purchase agreement form (since MLS forms are typically proprietary to licensed agents)
2. Understanding of every clause in that form
3. Direct communication access to the listing agent
4. A real estate attorney review (strongly advisable in states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, and others where attorney review is standard practice)

The main practical challenge is the purchase agreement. Without a buyer's agent, you either draft your own (using a template), download a state-specific form if one is publicly available, or hire a real estate attorney to prepare the document.

In some states — particularly attorney-closing states — buyers without agents routinely use attorneys rather than buyer's agents, and the process is straightforward. In agent-dominated markets, buying without representation is less common but not unusual, particularly for experienced buyers.

What you save: A buyer's agent typically earns 2.5–3% of the purchase price. On a $500,000 home, that's $12,500–$15,000. However, note that post-NAR settlement (August 2024), buyers and agents now negotiate representation fees separately rather than through the listing commission — so the economics vary more than they used to.

What you give up: Local market knowledge, access to MLS forms, agent-to-agent relationships, and someone experienced in managing the transaction timeline and troubleshooting problems.

How to Buy a FSBO Home

A FSBO (for sale by owner) transaction means the seller has no listing agent. This changes the dynamic:

• The listing agent's commission is off the table (sellers often price this in as a saving), but you'll likely still be expected to pay your own buyer's representation if you have an agent
• The seller may lack experience with disclosure requirements — their legal obligation to disclose material defects still exists, even without an agent, but enforcement is weaker
• You're negotiating directly with the owner, which can be faster and more personal — but also more emotionally charged

Steps for a FSBO purchase:

1. Verify the seller's identity and ownership — pull a title search or ask a title company to run a preliminary report. You need to confirm the person selling the property actually owns it and that there are no liens or encumbrances that would prevent a clean transfer.
2. Request the seller's disclosure forms — even in an as-is FSBO sale, most states require disclosure of known material defects. Get these in writing before submitting an offer.
3. Get your own purchase agreement template — the seller has no agent to draft the contract, which means you or your attorney needs to provide it. A FSBO purchase agreement template covers the same elements as an MLS form: price, earnest money, contingencies, possession date.
4. Order your own home inspection — non-negotiable in a FSBO sale. Without an agent managing the seller's behavior, inspection defects are more likely to be undisclosed.
5. Use a title company for escrow — don't let the seller hold the earnest money directly. A neutral title company or attorney escrow account protects you both.

After You Submit the Offer

Once you've submitted, the seller can:

• Accept your offer as written — you're under contract
• Reject your offer with no counteroffer
• Counter your offer, proposing different terms — you can accept the counter, reject it, or counter again

Most transactions involve at least one round of counter-offers. Common counteroffer points: price, closing date, contingency periods, seller concessions, and inclusions.

Once you reach a final agreement with both signatures on the same document, you're under contract. At that point:

• Your earnest money is due (usually within 2–3 business days)
• Your inspection period begins running
• Your lender starts formal underwriting

The Offer Letter Templates & Strategy Guide includes the complete purchase agreement template, FSBO-specific contract language, the offer cover letter template, and the escalation clause addendum — all in fill-in-the-blank format that you can use whether you're represented or not.

What Makes an Offer Strong in Any Market

Across every market and every situation, the offers that consistently perform best share three characteristics:

1. Clarity: Every deadline, every dollar amount, every contingency condition is specific and unambiguous. Sellers and their agents don't have to interpret or guess.
2. Demonstrated financial strength: A pre-approval letter that shows underwriter verification (not just a preliminary qualification), a meaningful earnest money deposit, and evidence of liquid reserves.
3. Reasonable risk allocation: Contingencies that protect the buyer without creating unlimited uncertainty for the seller. A 10-day inspection period with a defined notice procedure is more attractive than a 21-day period with vague "right to cancel" language.

Price matters. But a clean, well-structured offer at asking price often beats a messy, ambiguous offer at 3% over asking.