Updated by Mike Stewart PREC on May 1, 2023

Contract of Purchase and Sale Explanation – Expiration of the Offer (Section 24)

In Episode 11 of the First Time Home Buyer Guide Vancouver, we discussed Included & Excluded Items in a Real Estate Offer.

Today, we’re going to discuss the expiration time and date of the BC Contract of Purchase and Sale.

Real Estate Offers Expire?

Yes!

A Real Estate Offer in almost all situations has a date and time of expiration that is noted in Section 24 of the Contract of Purchase & Sale on page 7 of 7.

The Offer is only open for Acceptance or a Counter Offer until the date and time noted in Section 23. As you can see from the sample below the sample offer expires at 10am on April 10, 2019. If the offer is not accepted or a counter offer is not sent back before this time, the Offer expires and is no longer open for acceptance or for a counter offer.

Why Do Offers Real Estate Offers Expire?

Most people will do nothing if they are not given a deadline to take action.

The expiration of an offer is a deadline for the party receiving the offer to take action and is designed to do this. Offers also expire so that a Buyer (Or Seller when they send a counter offer) knows when to expect a response from the Seller (or Buyer receiving a Counter Offer) and if they don’t get a response the Buyer (Or Seller) can move forward on other properties (or the Seller who’s counter offer expires can entertain other offers) in an unencumbered manner.

3 Things that Can Happen Before The Expiry Date

    • The Seller Does Not Respond – A Seller (or a Buyer if they receive a Counter Offer from the Seller) can choose to not respond to the offer and let the offer expire. The Buyer can either re-submit another offer that may be more attractive to the Seller or the Buyer can move on and keep searching for properties. (Sellers are also allowed to re-submit more attractive counter offers if the Buyer does not respond to a Counter Offer)
    • The Seller Accepts the Offer – The Seller signs the offer and gets it back to the Buyer before the Expiry Date/Time and the offer is accepted. The Buyers Agent needs to receive the accepted offer from the Sellers Agent before the expiry date to ensure there is no uncertainty about when the offer was accepted.
    • The Seller Sends a Counter Offer – This is when a Seller (Or a Buyer after receiving a counter offer from the Seller) changes something in the Contract of Purchase and Sale and intials the change (ie price, Completion Date, Included/Excluded Items, etc) and sends it back. The party sending the counter offer will very often change the expiry date/time on the offer to give the receiver of the counter offer sufficient time to respond.

Mike Stewart Presale Sample Contract

What Happens if My Real Estate Offer (Or Counter) Expires?

Try sending another offer with improved terms of or price or walk away and offer on another property.

It is always possible re-submit an offer in the Vancouver and BC real estate market. A Buyer or Seller can always have their realtor prepare and submit another offer or counter-offer after the offer or counter offer has expired.

The group receiving the offer or counter offer always has the option to either accept, send a counter offer, or accept an offer.

Be Sure to Check Out Episode 13 of the First Time Home Buyers Guide for Vancouver We will discuss Subject Clauses in the Contract of Purchase and Sale.

Looking for Investment Pre-Construction Condos in Vancouver? Check out these great Videos on Pre-Construction Condos!

Looking for Detailed Data on the Vancouver Real Estate Market? Check out the latest Vancouver Real Estate Statistics with Video!

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