Making an offer
Offer rejected, expired or withdrawn
What each outcome actually means, and why none of them is automatically evidence your price was wrong.
- A rejected offer only forces an advertised-price update if it was rejected specifically for being too low — not for any other reason.
- An offer expiry limits how long it's intended to stay open; it doesn't force the seller to respond by then.
- Withdraw an unaccepted offer in writing, with confirmation of receipt; get legal advice before withdrawing anything already signed.
- Only revise your price or terms in response to new evidence, not rejection or silence itself.
Rejected doesn't mean wrong
An offer can be rejected for its price, its conditions, its settlement date, or simply because the seller preferred another offer for reasons that have nothing to do with yours. If a seller rejects a written offer specifically because it's too low, the agent must update the indicative price and any advertised price below that offer — but not for any other reason (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Ask (where appropriate) whether price or terms drove the decision before assuming either.
Expired doesn't mean the seller has to answer
A written offer expiry limits how long your offer is intended to stay open — it doesn't compel the seller to respond by then. Once an offer expires, the seller may still reject it, ignore it, counter it, or come back with a new proposal after the expiry has passed. Confirm explicitly whether your offer is still live if you haven't heard back by the expiry date, rather than assuming either outcome.
Withdrawing before acceptance
For pre-auction purposes, a written offer is any written format stating at minimum the price and terms proposed, not only a signed contract (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) — and agents must pass it on unless specifically instructed otherwise (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). If you want to withdraw an offer before it's accepted, do it in writing and get confirmation it was received, and get legal advice before withdrawing anything you've already signed.
Reassess before you resubmit
Whatever the outcome, only revise your price or terms because of new evidence — a corrected comparable, an updated Statement of Information, or a genuinely changed circumstance — not because rejection or silence itself feels like pressure to offer more.
Worked example
A buyer's offer expires on a Friday with no response. On Monday, the agent calls to say the seller wants to reopen discussion. The buyer treats this as a fresh negotiation, not a continuation of their lapsed offer — they re-check current comparable sales before deciding whether their original number, or a different one, still reflects the evidence.
Practical checklist
If your offer is rejected, expires or you need to withdraw
- Ask (where appropriate) whether price or terms drove a rejection
- Confirm in writing whether a lapsed offer is still live before assuming either way
- Withdraw an unaccepted offer in writing and confirm it was received
- Get legal advice before withdrawing anything you've already signed
- Only resubmit with new evidence, not simply a higher number
Questions for a professional
- Can I withdraw this offer, and what would that actually require?
- Has anything genuinely changed in the evidence since my last offer?
Official resources
Sources and methodology
- Underquoting information for real estate agents — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026)
Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.