We are currently living in a buyers’ market, plain and simple. Because there are so many more homes available than buyers to buy them, sellers have to be willing to accommodate buyers’ requests in order to acquire and retain interest.

That’s why the first 24 hours after a bid could be called the most crucial.

Buyers could lose interest and move on if you don’t respectfully respond to their bid. There is a market full of other homes to distract them. This means that you must consider your options quickly and smartly.

What to keep in mind:

Hopefully you’re already keeping up with the local competition: Take note on houses for sale that are similar to yours in size and upgrades, and keep track of what sells and for what price. Remember these figures when considering your bid.

The hardest step, after receiving a bid, is to forget how much revenue you were hoping to make from this sale. If you’re forced to move to a more expensive location and you were hoping for this investment to cover your costs, it might not. Depending on how badly and how quickly you need to sell, you might just have to reconsider, reevaluate and negotiate.

Deciding whether to accept a low bid highly depends on your time restraints. If you need to move by a specific date, you’ll probably want to accept any bid you receive. If you have no time restraint and have not found a new house yourself, you can still hope for a better offer.

Find out what the buyer’s time restraints are. If you accept the bid, prepare to accommodate the buyer’s needs as much as possible. Even if you accept the offer, they could still lose interest. Be as polite and understanding as possible with them.

All of this should be considered within the first 24 hours after a bid is made. Which means, start planning ahead now. Imagine different scenarios and what plan of action you would use if they were to occur. This way, when the long-awaited bid arrives, you’ll be prepared to accept, deny or counteroffer it in a timely, respectable fashion!

Because, once again, it’s a buyer’s market. Plain and simple.