When An Offer Is Really Accepted

A seller says “yes” and you start celebrating, but how real is that win if you’re buying in New York? Angela and Chris get brutally practical about what actually qualifies as an accepted offer, why verbal acceptance can vanish, and how buyers lose great homes simply by moving too slowly between the handshake moment and signed contracts. If you’re competing in a hot spring and summer market with bidding wars, timelines matter just as much as price.

We walk through the exact pressure points: scheduling a home inspection fast, getting the inspection report back quickly, and telling your attorney you’re ready so contracts can be prepared and signed. We also explain why sellers often continue showings even after they “accept” an offer, and how that backup plan protects them if the inspection uncovers issues or the buyer asks for big credits. Along the way, we compare New York’s attorney-driven process with what we’ve heard about Connecticut, including the idea of being “in contract” sooner and the debate over whether agents should draft contracts.

Then we hit the contingencies buyers should think twice before waiving. We unpack appraisal contingency with a painful story of a buyer stuck paying a huge gap in cash, explain how an appraisal gap clause can limit risk, and touch on mortgage contingency as a basic safeguard for your escrow deposit. To close, we shift to a real-life lifestyle question: would you ever buy a home with a shared driveway, and what should you ask neighbors before you commit?

Subscribe for more New York real estate and home buying advice, share this with a friend who’s house hunting, and leave a review with your biggest question: what part of the offer process feels most confusing right now?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to the Buyers Real Estate Podcast. My name is Angela. I'm gonna be the host for today, and my co-host is gonna be Chris. I'm back again. Welcome back. Just like that song from Drake. Yes, yes. Man, and uh it's really hot right now, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

I know, I know it's been very hot. Thank God the cold left because this winter's been very bad.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Oh, yeah, it's been very brick. And now we're getting flooded with heat.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Oh, yeah. And especially right now, there's a lot of buyers looking for houses right now.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah, and a lot of sellers, you should put your property on the market right now, because within the transition from winter to like now to a hotter temperature is the perfect time buyers are gonna be wanting to do the move and everything.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Oh, yes, getting ready for the the new school year, right? And if you list your house the right price, it's gonna get bidding worse.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Oh yeah. You you bet you're behind that you're gonna get a lot of bidding wars if you price your property correctly.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

If.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Yeah. And uh if you price it below what it should be, just maybe five percent below it, oh, you're gonna get traction.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

You're gonna get more than 10, 15 plus offers.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Maybe they're waving appraisal and inspections.

What Counts As Accepted Offer

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, who knows? Who knows? But definitely today, oof, our first topic is gonna be what qualifies as an accepted offer, because we've been getting that question a lot.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Oh, yes. So in New York, right, once they accept your offer, it's just a verbal yes, it's nothing written, right? So you could do inspections, right? But if the offer comes stronger than yours and waiving inspection and appraisal, oh, you're out. And it all depends on the owner as well. Are they working good faith? Because you never know. Maybe they work good faith. Oh, I see they already invested on an inspection. Let me stick with this buyer. Or they could be like, you know what? We don't want this buyer no more. Let's stick with the other one. They got higher terms.

Move Fast On Inspection And Contracts

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Yeah, no, I completely agree. I mean, just like Chris said, um, offer is only accepted really once you've signed contracts, not prior. In New York, everything is a verbal acceptance until you sign contracts. That's when it's officially legally binding an offer that has been accepted. So we've been in the business for quite some time now, and we've realized over and over again sometimes you might not find something for weeks, for months, for even a year plus, and then you find that dream home. You go in, you make the bid, you get it, you celebrate, you're like, this is it. And uh, sometimes what happens is that you wait a little bit too long. Maybe the inspection you're needing to do it maybe at the weekend, you just got the offer accepted on Monday. That's a lot of time, and between Monday, between Monday and the weekend, and all in between that time before the inspection gets done, you can't really do anything else. I mean, you want to sign contracts, but you need that inspection there. So sometimes you have to sacrifice because if not, what happens is that within that time frame, other offers can come in.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

And this is the reason why you gotta be in a fast pace. We always tell clients we're not in the rush, don't be in the rush, right? But things do happen. And I hear a lot of stories that agents, you know, they submit an offer, and then from there they do inspections, and then a strong strong offer comes and then they gone with all the offer.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

So exactly. So when you're getting that offer accepted, especially if it took you a long time to go and find that home, try to do those inspections right away, maybe the next day, if possible, because then that way you get that inspection done. You basically tell your inspector when can I expect to have the inspection report so I can go over it. Hopefully, it's the same day or the day the day after. That would be ideal because then you get everything done. If you do it the fastest way, most likely it's gonna be you're gonna wait until the the following day, get the inspection done there. And most of the time it takes them like one business day.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

I've seen them do it on the same day, but most of the time it's gonna be one business day. So it's probably gonna take two days in total. So you got the following day for the inspection, most likely the day after that to get the inspection report, go over it, make sure you've gone over it, make sure you feel comfortable with everything. And then once you do that, you tell your attorney, hey, I'm ready, I want to sign those contracts immediately. And then your attorney, it's up to him to basically get those contracts repaired as soon as possible so you can sign, deposit that escrow check for the for the down deposit. And basically, once you sign, that's it. The owner signs as well once they've received the funds and you're officially under contract. Both both parties, yeah, both parties. Because what happens is that if you don't do that all uh in a fast manner, another offer comes in, they might be having more favorable terms. It has to be presented to the seller because legally all offers have to be presented to sellers, and you know what? Sometimes an offer is too good to pass up, and they might just go with it. They'll be like, you know what? We appreciate your offer, right? We just got this other offering. You might be taking a little bit too long. Their offer just looks too good. We're gonna go with them. I'm sorry. Most of the time, if they do that, the due diligence on their end is that they should refund you the inspection money. That's usually how we see it.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

But it depends on the owner. It depends on the owner's owners don't want to give the inspection money.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Yeah, they don't want to be an a-hole about it.

Why Sellers Keep Showing Homes

SPEAKER_01 5:58

I I mean things do happen, and that's the reason once you're offered due to accepted, right? Most cases they will still continue doing showings as backup because you never know. Maybe something pumps up in the report and the buyer is maybe hesitating, they at least have backup. So we we understand from their side as well, and from the the buyer's side.

New York Versus Connecticut Rules

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah, because we do the exact same thing as them. We continue to show, just like Chris said, we continue to show the property even if we get an accepted offer until contracts are signed, right? Because you don't know what can happen. Something can come off on the report, just like Chris said. Maybe the buyers they're not comfortable moving forward, or maybe they want too much in credits, they're overestimating how much it's gonna cost, and maybe the seller isn't willing to do that. And so, you know, both parties part away and they go on to the next offer. So it's better to do it that way than just be stuck on one person and you know just committing to them when you don't know if they're gonna full be fully prepared to go forward with uh and in Connecticut, they once you submit an offer and your offer gets accepted, you're basically in contract because they give you like a period of time to do the inspection, 10 days, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:12

It depends. I'm not I'm not too familiar to Connecticut because we're not licensed, yeah, but I heard from other agents that they do be like in contract, and uh they give like a period of time to do inspection. So that's a good thing with Connecticut, because they they deal is like it's solid till the inspection is done, and it's willing to move forward. If not, then you know I gotta continue looking.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Right. I think the agents do the contracts for the clients, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:37

I think so, so which is weird. New York is not like that. New York, it's just whoever does inspections, once they do inspections, sign contracts, that's it. Yeah, everything's verbal before signing, and once it's signed, then it's uh official.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

That is interesting for the agents to do the contracts themselves. I mean, uh I've seen a lot a bunch of contracts, they're pretty much the same, but hey, you at home, tell us what you think in the comments below. Would you want your agent to do the contracts for you, or would you feel better an attorney doing them for you?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

I'd rather pick that a real estate attorney because agents they have other files they have to deal with, and honestly, they're not attorney. They didn't put it 100% right there, yeah, yeah. And people do mistakes, so just you know, just in case, I'd rather get a real estate attorney that's a professional than an agent.

Why You Should Not Waive Inspection

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I would rather do that too. I don't know if in Connecticut you also have the option to maybe have an attorney look at the contracts before you sign them and stuff, but I I think I would advise that. I prefer I'm just like you, I prefer an attorney to look over it and explain it to me, right? I've looked at the contracts most of the time, they're pretty much the same. You just skim through them to make sure that they have like the price point, the conditions, and stuff like that. It's a lot of legal verbiage in between, but yeah, they usually are the same, but I still want uh an attorney to review them. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, that's the big thing when you're submitting an offer, just make sure you try to do everything as fast as possible, just so you don't lose the opportunity to go and contract and be be ready to uh close in in the future. Because if you don't have that contract sign, you're not really you don't really have an accepted offer in New York. Okay. And like you said, an inspection is very important as well. Like as well, very important because if you if you don't have an inspection done, if you waive that contingency because you're saying, like, hey, I can close, I can sign contracts faster without an inspection, just know, right? You don't have the full story.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Oh no, it's always good to know before you get into the you know, buy the house, because once you buy the house, it's on you, it's not on the previous owner. And that's why it's very important that's a waive that contradicts you.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, and look, an inspector, no matter how experienced they are, sometimes they might miss things, right? But an inspection is still one of the most important things that you have to do so you get ahead of most of the problems that are in there. I'll tell you right now, like I work with a ton of inspectors, right? And uh they're perfect almost every single time. But sometimes they might miss a little thing, you know, here and there, and uh it comes up later. But for the most part, you're gonna get almost like the full story of the house. Yeah, absolutely. And then if they don't know a couple of things that are happening here and they're he they'll recommend you to get a professional person to look at that because an inspector is more of a general type of person that kind of comes in and gives you a general idea of what he believes might need to be addressed. He's not a professional in that area, but he'll tell you that you need someone to look at it. He gives his uh professional opinion, exactly, because he's like uh you can think of him as like a physician, right? A general physician. They'll tell you like what are the symptoms here uh and there, and then if like a part of your body is hurting and stuff, then they'll recommend you to a specialist for that body part or things like things like that. So just think of an inspector just being like a general physician that knows a lot about everything, right? But doesn't know everything about a certain thing. So they'll refer you to those specialists afterwards, right? Or just tell you that you need to get a specialist within that field, and then you take it from there.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

I hear a lot of stories that buyers do wave inspections, which is nuts.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Don't do that, don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Which is nuts. Yeah, we always tell our clients do inspections, even if the house looks perfect, yeah, because you don't know what's inside those walls, or maybe based on you know your thoughts, you will maybe notice like, oh, this needs to be fixed, or the roof is needs to be replaced in five years. At least when you do an inspection, you're investing, you know, five, six hundred dollars, but at least you know what you're getting into once you get the house.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

I think the only time we waived inspection was for condos and co-ops that look like they're all right. Because with condos and co-ops, sometimes it's just like a little space there. It's like not much can be wrong with this place, but there could be things that are wrong. It's up to you, your comfortability and taking the home as is, because it's not that big of a space. But when it's a house and a larger type of property, that's when you re absolutely no question about it, you need to do an inspection because a house is a big property, right? Compared to like a little condo or co-op.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

I would still say condos do inspections because you still got to worry about the boiler or maybe the furnace, you know, little things that yes, uh management will be responsible from the outside, like maybe the roof or maybe the beam of the place or pipes, but still, I would do inspections for the cons co-ops, not really, because it's mostly management is responsible for all those things, right? But it all depends on the buyer, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

You're talking about condos that are like almost like house styles, right? Yeah, not like the the big complexes and stuff that correct, yeah. Because those big complexes, I don't think you have access to like the the boiler room. Uh it depends.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, it all depends on on the condo and how they structure the the building.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah, I got you. Yeah, but definitely uh do your due diligence on on inspections, right? Another thing that you should never waive, and we have plenty of stories for this one, is appraisal.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Oh yes, this is one of the most important things to have an in-contract, because if you don't have a contract, then it will be a big problem, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Oh yeah. Oh my god, there there will be big problems for sure. Do you want to tell them a story about the difference one time?

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Oh yeah. So I heard a story that uh a buyer was buying a property in in the Bronx or in the city, right? And from what the agent mentioned, he said that they pay over, I think, a hundred or over a hundred and fifty thousand above all the value of what the appraiser said. So they didn't have the contingency in contract. So the buyer had to pay over a hundred to maybe one fifty of uh difference, which that means you have to pay in cash because the bank is not giving you, you know, approval of that amount which you submitted. And uh yeah, that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Because he wasn't so sorry, it wasn't he wasn't protected in contract at all. Having that, you know, that term, uh, appraisal contingency.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Yeah. So for those of you at home that doesn't know what an appraisal contingency is, it's basically a condition where basically let's say you put in an offer of a hundred thousand, keep it very simple, right? On a home. And let's say that the bank is basically giving you the loan for the rest of the difference between the down the down payment and what the home is getting purchased for, which is generally what happens, right? They're basically saying we're good for up to a hundred thousand. But if that home only appraises for 80,000, right? That means that to the bank, it's only worth 80,000. So it makes no sense for them to give you a hundred thousand. They're only gonna give you eighty thousand because it's all basically risk management for the banks. If you default on your mortgage, they're only gonna be able to recoup 80,000 when they sell the home. Not 100,000, maybe in the future when it appraises and stuff, but they want to make sure that whatever they're giving you is how much they can sell it in case you default on your loan. So that's how that happens, right? So if you don't have an appraisal contingency, that difference between 80 to 100,000, which is 20,000 and difference, you have to make that up out of your own pocket if you don't have that appraisal contingency. So it's very, very important to have that contingency in place because if not, then you're liable for that. And if you don't pay up and they know that you have the money in hand because they talked to your lender, maybe, and they let the seller know, they let the listing agent know that look, they have more than enough funds and stuff like that, then they're allowed, they will be able to basically keep your down deposit, most likely, because they know that you're able to do it, you've agreed to the terms, and now you're violating the terms, basically saying you were good for it, but out of nowhere you're not, it's not gonna work like that. They're probably gonna keep your down deposit and you don't want to do that. So most of the time, just put that appraisal contingency.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

They have other things as well, like an appraisal gap. So it's just basically say, Oh, I'm willing to pay only 10,000 of the difference. Uh yes, they also have that as well. So you could be like, you know, for both sides, right? So you don't want to say, for example, like Andrew said, Oh, this house isn't worth 80,000 and you in contract for 100. But both of you guys agree that 10,000 of the difference you're gonna pay. So in total, it'll be 90,000. You know, because you're you're protected, yeah, which is good because it works for both sides. You're not the buyer's not paying 20,000, right? And the seller's winning extra 10,000.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah, exactly. It's a way to basically say, hey, I'm willing to pay whatever, yeah, 10,000. And uh if I need to, if there's like a gap in between, right? I'll pay 10,000 and we can leave it at that. So whatever whatever it appraises for, I'll go 10,000 above out of my own pocket to cover like the difference. And then the rest is just, you know, it's just like free equity for you, I guess, in that in that sense. Because you you said you're good for 10,000. So hopefully it appraises for that, of course. Most of the time it will appraise for whatever you're submitting, right? Because generally your agent will do will bring up the comps and make sure that they're doing good by you. And sometimes you never know. It might be appraised for hire. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 18:25

It depends on the appraiser.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah, but if it's a praise for hire, hey, you don't need to tell them anything. No, no, that means you're you're winning. Yeah, you're winning. You got more equity than you're you're for uh you're actually putting that.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Yeah, so it's a win for the buyer, not for the seller.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Exactly. But hey, maybe they're really motivated. Well, you're not gonna tell them, right? No, no, don't tell them.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

If you're working for the buyer's side, never disclose, just say, oh, I appraise what you submitted.

Shared Driveway Dealbreakers

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah, that's all. If you're working with the buyer's agent and you see that you have more equity in there because of the appraisal, your agent has a fiduciary duty to basically let them know we're good. The appraisal's all good and nothing more. Yeah, but yeah, that's basically one of the biggest things. Well, those are two of the biggest contingencies that you got to put in there. Mortgage contingency is another one. Very straightforward. If the bank rejects you for whatever reason, you're able to pull out and get your down deposit back. Pretty simple. And then uh another subject that we wanted to touch on was would you ever buy a home with a shared driveway?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Honestly, no. I would never buy a house with a shared driveway. Reason why? It's gonna be complicated with neighbors, honestly. Yeah, with me, I don't want to deal with that at all. That's just my my opinion, right? But you know, it depends on uh the buyer. Maybe they don't mind sharing the drive with a neighbor, or because you know, some homes don't have driveways, and to find street parking, it could be a hassle, right? But my opinion, no, I want to buy a shared driveway. I gotcha. What about your your opinion?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

My opinion on the shared driveway. I feel like the only reason why I would buy a shared driveway if it if it had a really big backyard and I can I can fit multiple cars. Okay, yeah, that's a valid reason, and then you have enough space between the property lines and stuff where I can park my cars pretty nice and comfortably right there. If it's not like that and I have to share a driveway, but maybe it only accommodates like maybe one car, then if it's a beautiful home and a good neighborhood, I'll consider it. I'll definitely consider it. Okay, especially if the price is right. Price.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Oh yeah. Everyone's gonna say if the price is right.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Oh yeah. Everyone has a price, right? You could look at one of the ugliest homes and stuff like that, in your opinion, right? And say, I'm never gonna buy that. But if the price is right, you kind of go, like, well, maybe like the difference between this and getting it renovated, maybe it's worth it, you know? Yeah, as long as you're willing to put that sweat equity in there, do the repairs and and stuff, then sometimes you can find great deals. But generally for me, shared driveways, I try to stay away from those. In my opinion, if I ever buy a home in the future, I will probably end up um not wanting a shared driver. Well, buying a house. Yes. Because yeah, sometimes it's a hit or miss with the neighbors. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Yeah, and I don't want to deal with addicts, and that's just in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I feel like um a lot of people will share that same sentiment. Whenever we're helping clients and stuff and we show them a shared driveway, most of the time they're like, probably don't want that.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

You know, they don't want to deal with the neighbor or yeah, it just brings a little bit of you know a headache for them.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Because remember, also when it snows and stuff, who cleans it? Who cleans it? Is it half and half? Or right, or do they just leave it like that? Maybe they don't have cars that go inside. Leave it outside, then, but you have your cars that you want to put inside.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah, I really want to see who who would do it. Well, it would be the person, you know, to the left or the person to the right.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

No, you have to that that that's another thing. If you're gonna get a sure driveway, right? I feel like you want to talk to the neighbors. You want to talk to the neighbors before you move in, right? You want to feel them out, kind of introduce yourself and say, Hey, my name is Tom. No, I'm just thinking about being your neighbor, you know, thinking about buying that home. Just add a few questions if you don't have if you don't mind. And then most neighbors they'll they'll be pretty friendly and they'll be like, Yeah, no, no problem. What do you want to, you know, what do you want to uh know? And then you kind of discuss those things, bring them in subtly, and yeah, just get a feel for them. And then based off that, then you decide whether you want to move forward or not.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Oh no, yeah, yeah.

Final Advice And Viewer Questions

SPEAKER_00 22:50

But I think um, yeah, I think that's pretty much all the subjects that we wanted to cover today. Chris, do you have anything else?

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Or uh no, we don't.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yeah, so yeah, thank you guys. Thank you for tuning in for this week's episode of the Buyers Real Estate Podcast. And again, if you have any questions whatsoever, please leave a comment below and we'll get back to it as soon as we can.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Definitely like, give it a comment, and subscribe.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah, thank you guys, and have a great one. Bye guys.