HOW TO FILL IN A LETTER OF OFFER

You’re ready to start looking for and offering on property! Its exciting, but also terrifying. How do you make an offer? What’s a good offer? How do you make your offer stand out?

Below is an example Offer form, with all the details you need to fill in your form, and make a great impression on the sellers.

(Scroll down for Full Example below)

NAMES:                              

 Your full legal names including any middle names. This helps the agent, conveyancer and your mortgage broker save time, by not having to redo the paperwork if there’s a middle name missing.

ADDRESS:                         

Your current address. If there are two of you buying, but you live separately currently, they may only as for one address, this if fine, just pick one.

CONTACT DETAILS:          

Your Phone and email details.

Tip: Save the agents phone number so you know if they call you. And maybe rethink your email address if it’s the same one you used when you were a teenager… your offer might not look as strong from ute_boi_99@hotmail.com

PROPERTY ADDRESS:     

This is the address of the Property you’re offering on.

OFFER PRICE:                    

The offer, or amount you’re prepared to pay for the property. On an offer form, this is not a binding contract, so you can use a ‘first offer’ amount with a view to negotiate up later if needed, but keep in mind that if there are multiple offers, the agent may not come back to you to negotiate and you could miss out. If you’d like advice on what your specific offer should be for a specific property, please contact your broker for a property report.

Tip: I like to think about the max amount you would pay for the property before you would let it go. If someone bought it for an extra $5,000, would you think “They can have it for that” or would you be upset that you didn’t offer more?

DEPOSIT:                            

This is the deposit that the Real Estate Agent holds onto until settlement day. It is different to the deposit your broker might have spoken to you about for your loan.

The Real Estate Agent Deposit is usually 5% or 10% of the purchase price, but any amount can be used here. It’s easiest to use a fixed amount like $20,000 or $50,000 etc. If you’re successful, the deposit is due after the 2 days of cooling off, so it must be money you have access to in 1-3 days, and does NOT need to be all the money you have as your deposit.

SETTLEMENT DATE:        

Settlement periods are generally 30 days. I like to use “To suit the Vendor, not less than 30 days”. Don’t go less than 3 weeks without clearing it with your broker. Normally, the longer your settlement period is, the less attractive to the Vendor. Unless the Vendor has advised that they’re open to a long settlement, its best to stick with the 30 days by default.

CONDITIONS:                   

Anything your offer is subject to as part of the offer.

• Subject to Finance:
• >Loan Amount: Amount of your loan for this property, if you know your Loan to value ratio (LVR- 80%, 95% etc) just do the math quickly, or refer to your broker.
• >Bank & Rate: Add your Brokers details here and note “market rate”. This allows us to switch banks if needed under your existing finance clause.
• >Timeframe: Usually 2 weeks, check with your broker if they need a longer timeframe for a specific bank
• Subject to Building/Pest inspection: 
• If you can do this in your cooling off period, I would just do it then instead of conditioning it- unless the property is in bad shape or you can see something that concerns you (Rotting retaining wall sleepers, water stains in the ceiling, dropping gutters etc).
• Subject to Sale or Settlement: 
• Unlikely to be required if you are a First home buyer, but commonly used if you need another property to settle first (like if a gift was coming from the sale of a parents property, or a marital separation settlement)
• Other:                               
• You can add in any extra conditions here, but the less conditions, the stronger the offer, so consider doing more upfront diligence in the cooling off, or ensuring that you have your ducks in a row before you start offering.

Unconditional offers:

No conditions listed means an unconditional offer. You will still have the 2 days cooling off, but after this, the deposit is due and the sale is final. Make sure you have discussed all risks with your Mortgage Broker and Conveyancer prior to signing an unconditional offer.

Waiving Cooling off rights:

Occasionally, a Real Estate Agent may ask you to waive your 2 day cooling off rights to make your offer stronger. This will require sign off in the presence of a lawyer (at your cost) and removes a protection for you as the buyer. If an agent has requested you to waive your cooling off rights, get in touch with your broker and conveyancer ASAP, and seek independent legal advice before agreeing. Often getting into see a lawyer will take more than 2 days anyway, which still gives you and the conveyancer time to do your due diligence before signing.

YOUR CONVEYANCER DETAILS: 

If you don’t have one already, reach out and get in touch with your local conveyancer or get a referral from your broker or friends. Conveyancers handle all the legal background work to transfer the title into your name. They will also read through the Form 1 Statement and advise on any concerns in the paperwork. They will often talk to you about additional products to protect you, like Title Insurance.

HOW DO I STAND OUT?

Try to find out as much as you can about the type of seller you’re buying the house off. Is it an elderly grandma leaving a family home, is it a young couple upsizing, or a marital split, is it an investor moving out of the market? Try to match the terms of your offer to their likely pressure points. Sometimes the best offer isn’t the highest, it can come down to the least amount of conditions, or a specific settlement date.

If it’s an emotional sale, you can try to appeal to the sellers emotional side – write a letter to the vendor detailing why you will love and care for their property ongoing. Ask the agent to include it with your offer.

If it’s a quick sale like a separation or the sellers have bought another property, consider a shorter settlement period if you’ve been given the OK by your broker.

What about weird amounts? This isn’t The Block, so having an odd number like $652,891 might just mark you as a difficult client to work with. Being able to offer slightly over natural pause points though, like $652,000 or $503,000, will sometimes give you the edge over another offer which might be set on the even number.

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I offer on more than one property at a time?

Yes, Letter of offer forms aren’t a legal contract, and aren’t binding. You can have multiple offers on multiple properties at a time. If you are successful on more than one, you can choose which one to continue with and politely decline to continue with the others.

Tip: You don’t need to tell the Agent if you have offered on multiple offers, which can make your offer less appealing if they think you’ll accept another. Unless you have offered on 2 properties from the same real estate company, I wouldn’t mention that you other letters of offer in play.

My Offer has been accepted, what next?

You will sign a Contract, which is countersigned by the Vendor. Once fully signed, and you receive your Form1 Statement (in SA) your 2 days cooling off begins on the next business day, and expires at midnight on the 2nd business day. Your deposit is due the next day to the real estate agent. If you have conditions to satisfy, you are now Under Offer. If you were unconditional, you have now purchased the property, and are awaiting the settlement date.

Can I continue to negotiate price after my offer is accepted?

Technically yes, but because your letter of offer isn’t binding on the Vendor either, they could choose to disregard your new offer and choose another instead. It is currently a Sellers Market (as at July 2025, more demand for properties than properties available), so proceed with caution if trying to negotiate the price down after acceptance.

Can I offer unconditionally even if I don’t have pre-approval?

You can, but there are higher risks involved. Make sure to speak to your Broker before offering unconditionally, even if you already have pre-approval. You don’t want to lose your deposit, pay penalties for late settlement, or have to pay the difference between your offer and the eventual sale price to someone else. Yuck!

What if I change my mind?

You can back out of a letter of offer at any time. Once you’ve signed a Contract, you have 2 clear business days to change your mind by emailing the real estate agent with your decision to cool off (make sure to email so there’s a paper trail, and loop in your Mortgage Broker). After cooling off, if you have a finance or inspection clause you may be able to enact this to exit the contract, but it will depend on the specific circumstances. Make sure it feels right to proceed, but also don’t let yourself get in the way of good purchase.

What if my deposit is less than 5%, or I’m borrowing 100%+ with a Guarantor Loan?

Make sure to speak to the agent, so they know you’re borrowing with a Guarantor. If the agent will accept a smaller deposit amount of a few thousand and you have this to and, you can proceed with this, and reimburse yourself once the loan goes through. But if they really want a larger deposit, or it’s an auction, you can look into using a deposit bond instead. Ask your broker about how to do this.

EXAMPLE: