Real estate offers almost always contain contingencies -- events that must happen within a certain amount of time (such as 30 days) or else the deal won't become final. For example, you may want to make your offer contingent on your qualifying for financing, the house passing certain physical inspections , or your ability to sell your existing house first.

Be aware, however, that the more contingencies you place in an offer, the less likely the seller is to accept it. In the hottest markets, sometimes the successful bidder will have taken a calculated risk and made an offer with no contingencies.

Counteroffers

Whether it's the only offer, or the first of many, a seller usually does not have to accept any particular offer. If a bid is way out of line pricewise, the seller is likely to reject the offer on the spot. But even very attractive offers are rarely accepted as written. More typically, the seller will respond with a written counteroffer accepting some or most of the offer terms, but proposing certain changes.

Most counteroffers propose changes in these areas:

• price -- the seller wants more money than offered
• closing date or occupancy date -- the seller needs more time to move out
• contingency on buyer's sale of current house -- the seller doesn't want to wait for this to occur
• inspection contingency -- the seller wants the buyer to schedule the inspections more quickly.

You can accept the seller's counteroffer, reject it, or present a "counter counteroffer." Then, the negotiations will continue until either a deal or an impasse is reached.

A contract is formed when either the seller or the buyer accepts all of the terms of the other's offer or counteroffer in writing within the time allowed. The buyer's first offer can create a contract only if the seller accepts it with no changes.