Let's say we're making an offer on a house that already has one offer on it.

So... we're going to offer a strong price, and we're going to include an escalation clause. That means our offer automatically increases -- perhaps to make it $2,000 above any competing offer -- up to a maximum price you're comfortable paying for the house.

But... before we draft that offer... we need to figure out how long we're going to let the seller wait around, hoping more offers show up that will potentially cause your offer to escalate even further.

How long the seller can shop around for other offers to cause your offer to escalate is typically determined principally by the offer acceptance deadline.

Without an acceptance deadline in your offer, a seller could technically sit on your offer for days, possibly collecting multiple other offers that would each cause your offer to escalate even further.

So if we're including an escalation clause, we definitely want an offer acceptance deadline as well.

How Long Should That Deadline Be?

As usual... it depends, sometimes on...

1.  How long has the house been on the market? A home that just listed yesterday might justify giving the seller a little more time. A home that's been sitting for six weeks probably doesn't.

2.  When did the seller receive that other offer? If it just came in an hour ago, we might give the seller a bit more time to process and evaluate compared to if the offer came in yesterday.

3.  How much do you like this house? Your level of interest in buying this house should affect this term, and all terms, of your offer.

Depending on those factors, we might decide on 24 hours, or 48 hours, or something shorter, or longer.

But... we definitely don't want to leave your offer open-ended, with no acceptance deadline, and with an escalation clause.