Receiving Offers
If after seeing your property, the buyer wishes to go to the next step, he/she will make you an offer. My-Bermuda-House provides an online service that allows an offer to be submitted directly from our website. All the user has to do is navigate to the relevant Property Details page, click the "Make an Offer" icon, fill in the data fields and submit the form.
To ensure the privacy of information, all data transmitted between the user's computer and our webservers are protected using the highest level of commercially available encryption technology.
All offers are sent directly to My-Bermuda-House, as real estate agent for the property. We will communicate every offer to you as quickly as possible and together we will discuss and evaluate their terms, including the price and any other special conditions attached.
You may decide to accept or reject an offer outright. If you receive several competitive offers, you may employ other techniques such as sealed bids and Dutch auctions to differentiate the buyers. Typically, your reaction to an offer will be influenced not only by its terms but also by the state of the market.
You may also elect to counter-offer. If so, you should be prepared for a period of negotiation before a final price is agreed. Typically, a counter-offer will state that the owner has accepted the buyer's offer subject to the following particulars. These particulars can address such items as:
- Total Consideration (generally a higher price)
- Revised Closing date
- Allocation of Closing Costs
- Exclusion of personal property from the contract
It is quite common for offers or counter-offers to involve different allocations of closing costs as a way to fine tune the final agreement. And just as you may counter-offer the buyer, so the buyer may counter your counter, leading to a protracted negotiation before a deal is reached.
You should prepare yourself for the fact that the pressure of contract negotiations can be intense. Knowledge of the sale and purchase contract and the negotiating process is a distinct advantage. If your home is listed with My-Bermuda-House, we will work diligently to protect your interests. The most important thing is to be patient throughout what can be a stressful and frustrating time.
Finally, you must understand that any offer submitted for your property is subject to the signing of a Sale and Purchase Agreement. There are no legal obligations on either side until the contract is signed. So once you have accepted a buyer's offer, we will move as expeditiously as possible to the preparation of the formal Sale and Purchase Agreement in consultation with your legal representative. Only when this contract is signed and the buyer has made a deposit does the transaction have the force of law.
