Answer an offer in writing
Send a written yes, no, or counter, even when you already talked it through.
A spoken yes is easy to remember two different ways by the next morning. After you decide, write the decision in a sentence and send it the way your forms require. The sentence should say accepted, rejected, or countered, and it should name the offer you mean, including the date on it. A text that says we are good is not that sentence.
Include the price, the credits, and the dates you are accepting or changing. If you change only the closing date, say the price is unchanged so nobody fills the silence with a different number. Leave out anything you have not decided. A maybe on the refrigerator does not belong in the counter. Finish the inclusion list first, then answer. An answer with a blank you meant to settle later is an invitation to argue.
Have the person who is reviewing the contract read the sentence before it goes, if that is the plan you wrote down. Ask them to check that the written answer matches the row on your comparison page. A counter that drifts from the row is how the net changes without a new calculation. If they mark a correction, rerun the net before you send it. Speed is not a reason to skip the row.
Save a copy in the offer file the same day, next to the offer you received. If a second offer arrives, you will want the first answer on paper so you do not accept two deals or contradict yourself. Note the time you sent it. When the other side replies, the reply goes in the same file, and the row gets updated. The conversation can be pleasant. The file is what you will have at the closing table.
What to do
- Write the decision in one sentence: yes, no, or counter, naming the offer.
- Include price, credits, and dates, and leave out anything you have not decided.
- Check the sentence against your comparison row and rerun the net if it changed.
- Save a copy in the offer file the same day.