There’s an old adage in real estate that your first offer is always your best offer. It’s a line typically used by a buyer’s agent to try to convince a seller to accept the buyer’s offer, usually when the property hasn’t been listed very long and usually when the buyer’s offer is low. The premise behind the adage is that, as the home stays on the market longer and longer, buyers will offer prices that are lower and lower. Presumably, the seller is supposed to accept a low price because it’s accepted fact that your first offer is always your best offer.

If anyone ever tries to use this line on you,  don’t believe them. It’s true that your first offer may ultimately turn out to have been your best offer, but I’ve witnessed firsthand on many occasions that this is not always the case. This is especially true in a sellers’ market, such as the one we’re in now. Yes, you always take a risk when you refuse an offer so consider every offer very carefully (for more on this subject, check out You See It, You Like It, You Buy It – Part 1 ), but don’t feel obligated to take the first offer you receive because someone tells you it will, without a doubt, be the best offer you will ever receive.

A perfect example of this occurred recently. A home that didn’t sell at its original list price of $1,350,000 was reduced to $1,300,000 (the numbers have been adjusted to protect people’s privacy). Buyer A submitted a low offer of approximately $1,200,000, but the sellers didn’t bite. Buyer B then submitted a better offer for approximately $1,275,000.  The sellers accepted this offer, but the conditions weren’t waived so the deal didn’t go through. Several days later, the sellers received 3 offers and sold their home for $1,325,000. This isn’t a typo and it isn’t fiction. They really did receive 3 offers and they really did sell their home for $25,000 over their new list price. (I’ve told you before that the world of real estate is a very strange world and that anything can happen. If you need to refresh your memory, check out It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over.)

So don’t feel you need to accept the first offer you receive. Consider it carefully, know the risks involved in rejecting it and then make the right decision.