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Offer rejected, expired or withdrawn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.

Can a seller accept an expired offer, and can I withdraw mine?

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) (this price-update duty sits within Victoria's price-statement rules: the Property Price Statement replaced the Statement of Information from 1 October 2026 (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026), and for auctions and fixed-date sales it applies to those held on or after 16 October 2026, with the earlier rules continuing until then (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026); NSW runs a genuinely different price-disclosure model — see the price guides guide for the comparison). 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) (NSW runs the same core disclosure duty under a different name — see the competing offers guide for the comparison). 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 Property Price Statement, or a genuinely changed circumstance — not because rejection or silence itself feels like pressure to offer more.

Want this as a checklist for your own purchase? Start free in the Delora app

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

• Consumer Affairs Victoria: Buying property by private sale

Sources and methodology

• Underquoting information for real estate agents — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
• Industry Q&As: New changes to property sales and underquoting laws | Consumer Affairs Victoria — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
• Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (Vic), No. 36 of 2026 — Act as made — Parliament of Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: Victorian legislation — free reuse per legislation.vic.gov.au copyright notice
• New changes to property sales and underquoting laws | Consumer Affairs Victoria — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0

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.