La Jolla · Buyer & seller guides · Process

Multiple offers in La Jolla: final rounds, counteroffers and backup offers

When a La Jolla or coastal San Diego home gets more than one written offer, the seller often compares price, terms, deposits and timing side by side. The seller may ask buyers for a final offer, send counteroffers, or accept a backup offer. The exact steps are in the written requests and contracts.

I’m Weston Clark, Founding Member of the Dickinson-Clark Team at Compass. I help buyers and sellers in La Jolla and coastal San Diego follow each step in plain words. Check what each paper means with your lawyer and escrow (the neutral company that holds money and papers until closing) before you rely on a deadline or a plan. You can talk about fees with Weston directly. This form does not give a commission quote.

Talk to Weston Jump to FAQ Offer strategy

Related: Offer strategy · Escrow · Buying & selling · Guides · La Jolla · As-is sale · Cash offers · Contingencies · Home inspection

What multiple offers means

Multiple offers means the seller has more than one written offer on the same home at the same time. This page explains the steps. It does not give odds of winning or predict what a seller will choose.

In this guide:

• Final-offer rounds (a “call for offers”)
• How a seller can answer: accept, reject or counter
• Backup offers
• What buyers and sellers decide with Weston
• Where this fits with offer strategy and escrow

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE), the state office that licenses agents, says listing agents should show every written offer to the owner. The exceptions: the owner says not to in so many words, or an offer is clearly not serious. Competing offers should be presented with the owner’s interests in mind, not the agent’s pay. Check each step with your lawyer.

Final-offer rounds (call for offers)

A call for offers is a written request from the seller asking each buyer for a final written offer by a set deadline. The listing agent sends it on the seller’s written instructions. The final offer covers price, terms, conditions, deposits, move-in date and any add-on papers the seller asks for.

• Buyers answer in writing, or choose not to change their offer.
• The seller then accepts, rejects, counters or keeps reviewing.
• The exact wording is in the seller’s request and each buyer’s answer. Check with your lawyer.

How to shape an offer: Offer strategy.

How a seller can answer: accept, reject, counter

The DRE says that to make a binding contract, the seller must accept the buyer’s offer in writing, with no changes, and tell the buyer before the offer expires.

If the seller does not like part of the offer, the seller can send a counteroffer: a written reply that changes some terms and gives the buyer a set time to say yes. There can be several rounds of counters until both sides sign or talks stop.

The DRE also notes that until the buyer is told the offer is accepted, the seller can usually keep showing the home and accept another offer. Exact rights are in the written offer and listing papers. Check with your lawyer.

Several counters: each counter replaces or changes the last written version, as the counter says. Keep track of which paper is the latest. A spoken “yes” is not acceptance. Check with your lawyer.

Backup offers

A backup offer is a written offer that waits in second place behind a contract the seller has already accepted. If the first contract cancels or falls apart under its terms, the backup can move up. The DRE names backup offers as something that can come up when one buyer is already under contract and another buyer makes an offer.

How it usually works:

• The seller accepts the first (“primary”) buyer’s offer, and escrow opens.
• Another buyer makes a backup offer in writing.
• The backup stays in second place unless the primary contract cancels or fails, and the backup’s own terms for moving up are met.

A backup offer is not a promise that the buyer will move up. The written backup agreement controls the terms, deposit and timing. Check with your lawyer and escrow.

Buyers thinking about a backup offer often weigh whether second place fits their timeline, what terms they can live with if the first deal fails, and whether to keep looking in the meantime. Sellers often decide whether to accept a backup, and what its wording and deposit terms should say.

After an offer is accepted: Escrow in La Jolla.

What buyers and sellers decide with Weston

Buyers often decide:

• Whether to write an offer, change it or walk away after seeing other interest
• How price, terms, conditions and deposits fit in their written offer
• How to answer a final-offer deadline or a seller’s counter
• Whether a backup offer fits their goals

Sellers often decide:

• Whether to accept, reject or counter each written offer
• Whether to run a final-offer round
• How to weigh price against terms, timing and conditions
• Whether to take a backup offer after accepting a first one

Weston helps you see what each request and answer is asking for. You can talk about fees with Weston directly. This form does not give a commission quote.

Where this fits with other guides

These guides explain places and steps. None replaces your lawyer, escrow or lender.

More guides on sandiego.homes

• Offer strategy: price, terms, conditions and deposits
• Escrow: papers and steps after an offer is accepted
• Buying & selling: the bigger picture
• Seller prep: getting a home ready to list
• Guides · La Jolla

Talk with Weston about multiple offers

Tell me whether you are buying or selling a La Jolla or coastal San Diego home. I can walk you through final-offer rounds, counters and backup offers, and your lawyer can confirm the wording.

Or call (858) 997-8998 · weston@sandiego.homes · Search on Compass

Sources

• CA DRE — Reference Book Ch. 1 (present written / competing offers)
• CA DRE — Reference Book Ch. 20 (acceptance / counteroffer)
• CA DRE — Reference Book Ch. 10 Agency
• CA DRE — Surviving the Real Estate Escrow Process
• CA DRE — Reference Book Ch. 8 Escrow
• CA DRE — Consumers · Homebuyers / Borrowers
• HUD Fair Housing Act overview