- Official section
- National V.A.4 and V.A.9: Offers, acceptance, notice, and delivery
- Broker weight
- 19% of the national broker portion
- Expected scored items
- Contracts account for about 17 of 100 items
Illinois exam glossary
Offer
An offer is more than interest in making a deal. It is a definite proposal that lets the offeree say yes and complete the bargain. On the exam, identify who made the current offer, whether it is still alive, and whether the response matched it. Most confusion disappears once you track those three facts.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What does this exam area cover?
Short answer: An offer is a communicated, sufficiently definite proposal showing present intent to be bound if the offeree accepts as invited. A real estate offer should identify the parties, property, price or pricing method, and essential transaction terms. It remains capable of acceptance only until it expires or terminates by revocation, rejection, counteroffer, lapse, or another legal event. A listing usually invites offers rather than constituting one, while a bid ordinarily functions as the offer at auction.
This guide follows the PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026, current Illinois decisions on formation, certainty, expiration, counteroffers, and auctions, Illinois Pattern Civil Jury Instructions revised November 2025, and 740 ILCS 80/2, all checked through August 1, 2026. Option contracts, firm offers, auctions, electronic platforms, agency authority, death, incapacity, indirect revocation, and stipulated acceptance methods can change a live analysis.
What is on the official outline?
- Topic
- Identify the offeror
- What to know
- buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, optionor, bidder, principal, agent, signature, authority, and current proposal
- Best exam move
- The party proposing the present bargain is the offeror.
- Topic
- Identify the offeree
- What to know
- recipient, power of acceptance, named person, seller, buyer, agent, entity, multiple owners, and permitted assignee
- Best exam move
- Only the intended offeree or an authorized actor can accept the offer.
- Topic
- Find present commitment
- What to know
- intent to be bound, proposal, promise, reservation, subject to approval, draft, negotiation, future intention, and objective manifestation
- Best exam move
- Ask whether a reasonable offeree could accept now and conclude the bargain.
- Topic
- Distinguish invitations
- What to know
- listing, advertisement, sign, multiple listing service, brochure, price quote, appraisal, inquiry, request for offers, and negotiation
- Best exam move
- Marketing generally seeks offers and does not guarantee sale to the first person offering list price.
- Topic
- Make terms definite
- What to know
- parties, property, price, financing, closing, possession, title, fixtures, contingencies, deadlines, and remedies
- Best exam move
- The proposal must be certain enough that acceptance creates knowable obligations.
- Topic
- Describe the property
- What to know
- legal description, address, parcel, unit, parking, acreage, exhibit, survey, included parcel, and reasonable certainty
- Best exam move
- An offer to buy one of several lots without a selection method may be too indefinite.
- Topic
- State price and payment
- What to know
- purchase price, earnest money, cash, mortgage, seller financing, assumption, closing credit, escalation, objective formula, and proof of funds
- Best exam move
- Use a stated amount or workable objective method, not an agreement to agree later.
- Topic
- Set acceptance method
- What to know
- signature, initials, delivery, email, platform, receipt, notice address, counterpart, agent, and electronic authentication
- Best exam move
- Follow the method invited or required by the offer.
- Topic
- Set an expiration
- What to know
- date, time, time zone, business day, reasonable time, lapse, extension, waiver, and late response
- Best exam move
- After the deadline, the power to accept ordinarily ends.
- Topic
- Revoke before acceptance
- What to know
- withdrawal, communication, receipt, reliable information, inconsistent sale, indirect revocation, timing, and irrevocable option
- Best exam move
- An ordinary offer can generally be revoked before acceptance becomes effective.
- Topic
- Apply rejection
- What to know
- no, refusal, delivery, final response, later change of mind, renewed offer, and power terminated
- Best exam move
- A rejected offer cannot ordinarily be revived by the offeree alone.
- Topic
- Apply counteroffer
- What to know
- changed price, closing, financing, contingency, repair, fixture, possession, credit, rejection, and new offer
- Best exam move
- A material change ends the original power and reverses the roles.
- Topic
- Separate inquiry
- What to know
- would you consider, question, request, suggestion, information, no condition, reservation, and continued power
- Best exam move
- A question can explore a change without rejecting if it does not condition assent.
- Topic
- Protect an option
- What to know
- separate contract, consideration, keep open, option period, exercise, exact method, deadline, optionor, and optionee
- Best exam move
- A supported option makes the offer irrevocable for its term according to the option language.
- Topic
- Handle death or incapacity
- What to know
- offeror, offeree, ordinary offer, option, agency, notice, estate, authority, and timing
- Best exam move
- Treat the event as a legal termination issue and do not assume an agent's authority survives unchanged.
- Topic
- Handle auctions
- What to know
- bid, bidder, auctioneer, reserve, absolute, announced terms, withdrawal, hammer, acceptance, and memorandum
- Best exam move
- At an absolute auction the bid is accepted at the fall of the hammer, subject to the governing terms.
- Topic
- Apply signed-writing rules
- What to know
- Frauds Act, land sale, memorandum, party charged, electronic signature, authorized agent, and enforceability
- Best exam move
- Formation concepts and the Illinois land-contract writing requirement must both be satisfied.
- Topic
- Present every offer
- What to know
- timely delivery, multiple offers, client decision, confidentiality, truthful communication, no favoritism, record retention, and license duty
- Best exam move
- The broker promptly presents and documents offers but does not choose for the client.
- Topic
- Control versions
- What to know
- draft, final, counter, rider, addendum, initials, timestamps, platform, duplicate, withdrawal, and accepted copy
- Best exam move
- Label every version so the parties know which proposal is currently capable of acceptance.
- Topic
- Protect scope
- What to know
- approved form, client instructions, material terms, no legal drafting, attorney review, ambiguous clause, referral, and deadline
- Best exam move
- The broker facilitates the offer process and refers custom legal drafting or disputes to counsel.
Which distinctions produce the most mistakes?
- Terms
- Offer vs. advertisement
- Difference
- An offer grants a power of acceptance. An advertisement ordinarily invites customers to make offers.
- Question cue
- Present bargain versus invitation.
- Terms
- Offer vs. listing agreement
- Difference
- A purchase offer proposes a sale contract. A listing agreement creates a brokerage relationship and marketing authority.
- Question cue
- Sale proposal versus broker engagement.
- Terms
- Offer vs. inquiry
- Difference
- An offer proposes terms capable of acceptance. An inquiry asks for information or explores willingness.
- Question cue
- Commitment versus question.
- Terms
- Offer vs. letter of intent
- Difference
- An offer shows present intent to be bound on definite terms. A letter of intent may only record negotiations, depending on its language.
- Question cue
- Binding proposal versus preliminary record.
- Terms
- Offer vs. counteroffer
- Difference
- An offer starts a proposal. A counteroffer responds with a materially changed proposal and ordinarily rejects the first.
- Question cue
- Initial bargain versus revised bargain.
- Terms
- Counteroffer vs. inquiry
- Difference
- A counteroffer conditions agreement on a change. An inquiry asks whether change is possible without necessarily rejecting.
- Question cue
- New condition versus question.
- Terms
- Revocation vs. rejection
- Difference
- Revocation comes from the offeror. Rejection comes from the offeree.
- Question cue
- Offer withdrawn versus offer declined.
- Terms
- Expiration vs. revocation
- Difference
- Expiration ends the offer by time. Revocation ends it by the offeror's effective withdrawal.
- Question cue
- Clock ends versus offeror ends.
- Terms
- Ordinary offer vs. option
- Difference
- An ordinary offer is generally revocable before acceptance. A supported option restricts revocation for its term.
- Question cue
- Revocable proposal versus paid decision right.
- Terms
- Acceptance vs. late acceptance
- Difference
- Timely acceptance completes the bargain. A late response ordinarily becomes a new offer.
- Question cue
- Within power versus after lapse.
- Terms
- Absolute auction vs. reserve auction
- Difference
- At an absolute auction, the announced property is sold to the qualifying highest bidder. With reserve, the seller retains rights stated in the terms.
- Question cue
- Must sell under terms versus reserve retained.
- Terms
- Bid vs. acceptance at auction
- Difference
- The bid is ordinarily the bidder's offer. The hammer or other announced close accepts it in an absolute auction.
- Question cue
- Price proposed versus sale concluded.
The O-F-F-E-R check
- Objective commitment: decide whether the communication proposes a present bargain or only advertises, negotiates, estimates, or invites offers.
- Full enough terms: verify parties, property, price, financing, closing, possession, contingencies, included items, performance, and certainty.
- Find the current offeree: track each counteroffer so you know who presently holds the power of acceptance.
- End-date and termination: calculate expiration and screen revocation, rejection, counteroffer, lapse, death, incapacity, illegality, or subject-matter loss.
- Required acceptance: follow the exact signature, delivery, notice, electronic, option-exercise, or auction method.
- Event
- Acceptance
- Who or what causes it
- Offeree
- Ordinary result
- Contract forms
- Event
- Rejection
- Who or what causes it
- Offeree
- Ordinary result
- Power ends
- Event
- Counteroffer
- Who or what causes it
- Offeree
- Ordinary result
- Original rejected; new offer made
- Event
- Revocation
- Who or what causes it
- Offeror
- Ordinary result
- Offer withdrawn before acceptance
- Event
- Expiration
- Who or what causes it
- Time
- Ordinary result
- Power lapses
- Event
- Option exercise
- Who or what causes it
- Optionee
- Ordinary result
- Underlying transaction follows option terms
How do the rules work in scenarios?
Listing at a stated price
Scenario: A home is listed at $525,000. A buyer submits a full-price offer and says the seller must accept because the list price was advertised.
- The public listing ordinarily invites buyers to submit offers.
- The buyer's signed proposal is the offer to purchase.
- The seller can accept, reject, counter, or act as otherwise required by law and existing obligations.
Answer: The full-price proposal does not automatically compel the seller to accept.
Offer expires
Scenario: A buyer's offer expires at 5:00 p.m. Friday. The seller signs and delivers it at 9:00 a.m. Saturday without an extension.
- The stated power to accept ended at 5:00 p.m.
- The later signature cannot unilaterally revive the buyer's offer.
- The Saturday response ordinarily functions as a new offer for the buyer to accept or reject.
Answer: The seller's late response is not a timely acceptance of the expired offer.
Revocation before acceptance
Scenario: The buyer delivers an ordinary offer at noon, then effectively withdraws it at 2:00 p.m. The seller attempts acceptance at 3:00 p.m.
- No supported option or other irrevocability fact is stated.
- The withdrawal became effective before acceptance.
- The seller no longer had power to accept at 3:00 p.m.
Answer: No contract forms through the attempted 3:00 p.m. acceptance.
Question rather than counteroffer
Scenario: The seller asks whether the buyer would consider moving closing by one week but does not condition acceptance or sign a changed document.
- The seller asks for information rather than saying acceptance depends on the change.
- The wording can be an inquiry rather than a counteroffer.
- Context and the remaining offer deadline still matter.
Answer: The question does not necessarily reject the buyer's offer.
Indefinite property
Scenario: An investor writes, I offer $70,000 for whichever vacant parcel you decide to sell, and supplies no selection method or deadline.
- The owner controls the essential subject matter without a defined standard.
- The proposed property cannot yet be identified.
- Acceptance would not create a sufficiently certain land bargain on the stated terms.
Answer: The proposal is too indefinite to function as the intended land-sale offer.
Option keeps offer open
Scenario: An owner grants a 20-day written option supported by consideration, and the optionee exercises on day 18 exactly as required.
- The separate option binds the owner to keep the offer available during its term.
- The optionee acted before expiration.
- The exercise followed the specified method.
Answer: The timely, exact exercise invokes the rights described in the option.
Absolute auction
Scenario: An auctioneer announces an absolute sale under written terms. A bidder makes the highest qualifying bid, and the hammer falls.
- The bidder's bid is the offer.
- The absolute-auction terms govern acceptance.
- Illinois authority recognizes contract formation at the fall of the hammer on such facts.
Answer: The bid is accepted when the hammer falls, subject to the announced terms.
What are the common exam traps?
- Trap
- Calling a listing an offer to the public
- Correction
- A listing usually invites buyers to make purchase offers.
- Trap
- Forcing acceptance of a full-price offer
- Correction
- List price does not ordinarily promise sale to every buyer who offers it.
- Trap
- Calling every draft an offer
- Correction
- Look for present objective commitment and sufficiently definite terms.
- Trap
- Ignoring property certainty
- Correction
- The proposed real estate must be reasonably identifiable.
- Trap
- Leaving price for future agreement
- Correction
- Use a stated price or objective method capable of determining it.
- Trap
- Letting anyone accept
- Correction
- Acceptance belongs to the intended offeree or an authorized actor.
- Trap
- Accepting after expiration
- Correction
- A late response ordinarily operates as a new offer.
- Trap
- Revoking after acceptance
- Correction
- Once effective acceptance forms the contract, withdrawal is no longer revocation of an offer.
- Trap
- Calling offeror withdrawal rejection
- Correction
- The offeror revokes; the offeree rejects.
- Trap
- Calling a counteroffer an acceptance
- Correction
- A material change proposes a new bargain and ordinarily rejects the old one.
- Trap
- Calling every question a counteroffer
- Correction
- An inquiry can explore a change without conditioning agreement.
- Trap
- Treating a promise to keep open as always binding
- Correction
- An enforceable option requires its own legal basis and exact terms.
- Trap
- Calling the auction announcement the bidder's offer
- Correction
- Ordinarily the bid is the offer; auction type and announced terms determine acceptance.
- Trap
- Ignoring reserve terms
- Correction
- An absolute auction and auction with reserve create different seller rights.
- Trap
- Letting the broker choose among offers
- Correction
- Present promptly and accurately; the client decides with appropriate professional advice.
Can you answer these original practice questions?
These questions are original study items aligned to the published outline. They are not copied, recalled, or predicted PSI questions.
1. What is an offer?
- A definite proposal giving an offeree power to accept
- Every advertisement
- A recorded deed
- A property appraisal
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A definite proposal giving an offeree power to accept
It must objectively show present commitment to a knowable bargain.
2. Who makes an offer?
- The offeror
- The offeree
- The grantee
- The appraiser
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The offeror
The intended offeree receives the power to accept.
3. Is a typical property listing a purchase offer?
- No
- Yes, always
- Only if photographed
- Only if vacant
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No
It ordinarily invites buyers to submit offers.
4. What ordinarily happens when the offeree materially changes the offer?
- A counteroffer is made
- The original is accepted
- Title transfers
- A mortgage records
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A counteroffer is made
The roles reverse and the original offer is ordinarily rejected.
5. Who revokes an offer?
- The offeror
- The offeree
- The recorder
- The inspector
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The offeror
The offeree rejects or counteroffers.
6. What is a response after expiration?
- Ordinarily a new offer
- Always timely acceptance
- A deed
- An appraisal contingency
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Ordinarily a new offer
The original power of acceptance ended at the deadline.
7. What makes an option different from an ordinary offer?
- A supported option restricts revocation for its term
- It transfers title immediately
- It needs no terms
- It is always oral
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A supported option restricts revocation for its term
The optionee must exercise exactly as the option requires.
8. At an absolute auction, what is the bidder's bid?
- An offer
- An acceptance
- A deed
- A listing agreement
Show answer and explanation
Answer: An offer
The hammer's fall accepts under the announced absolute-auction terms.
9. Does asking whether a different closing date is possible always reject an offer?
- No, it can be an inquiry
- Yes, always
- Yes, because questions are deeds
- No, because closing never matters
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No, it can be an inquiry
The wording must not condition assent on the change.
10. What should a broker do with multiple offers?
- Present them promptly and accurately for the client to decide
- Choose the highest price alone
- Hide unfavorable terms
- Reject all financing offers
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Present them promptly and accurately for the client to decide
Price is only one term, and the broker follows duties and lawful instructions.
How should you study this area?
- Session
- Session 1
- Focus
- Separate offers from invitations
- Proof you are ready
- Classify 35 listings, advertisements, inquiries, letters of intent, drafts, price quotes, requests, and definite proposals.
- Session
- Session 2
- Focus
- Audit offer terms
- Proof you are ready
- Review 30 party, property, price, financing, closing, possession, contingency, fixture, deadline, and delivery records.
- Session
- Session 3
- Focus
- Track termination
- Proof you are ready
- Solve 35 expiration, lapse, revocation, rejection, counteroffer, death, incapacity, illegality, and subject-matter scenarios.
- Session
- Session 4
- Focus
- Master options and auctions
- Proof you are ready
- Audit 30 option-fee, exercise, deadline, reserve, absolute, bid, withdrawal, hammer, and announced-term facts.
- Session
- Session 5
- Focus
- Control communication
- Proof you are ready
- Reconcile two paper and two electronic offer histories with signatures, agents, platforms, receipt, time zones, versions, and withdrawals.
- Session
- Session 6
- Focus
- Run O-F-F-E-R
- Proof you are ready
- Score at least 90 percent and explain who holds the current power of acceptance after every event.
Do not count recognition as mastery. Close the notes and explain the rule, apply it to a new fact pattern, and identify why each distractor fails.
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Questions students ask about Offer: Illinois Real Estate Exam Guide
What is an offer?
An offer is an objective proposal of a sufficiently definite bargain that gives the person receiving it a present power to accept. It identifies what the offeror promises and what is requested in return. A conversation, price opinion, listing, advertisement, or draft can invite negotiation without showing the present commitment necessary for an offer.
Who are the offeror and offeree?
The offeror makes the offer. The offeree receives it and holds the power to accept while the offer remains open. In a typical purchase negotiation, a buyer who submits a signed proposal is the offeror and the seller is the offeree. If the seller changes a material term, the roles reverse for that counteroffer.
What terms should a real estate offer contain?
A strong offer identifies the parties, property, price, earnest money, financing, closing, possession, title expectations, included property, prorations, contingencies, deadlines, and method of acceptance and delivery. Not every omission has the same effect, but essential terms must be certain enough for the parties and a court to know the proposed bargain.
Is a property listing an offer?
Usually not. A listing agreement authorizes brokerage activity, and public marketing generally invites buyers to submit offers. It ordinarily does not promise to sell to anyone who sends the asking price. Exact language and auction rules can change the analysis, so do not turn the list price into an automatic acceptance right.
How is an offer communicated?
The offer must reach the offeree or an authorized agent before it can be accepted. Communication can occur through a signed paper, electronic platform, authenticated email, oral statement where lawful, or conduct sufficiently definite to convey the proposal. Illinois land-sale enforcement still requires the signed-writing analysis under the Frauds Act.
How does an offer terminate?
An offer can end by expiration, lapse after a reasonable time, revocation communicated before acceptance, rejection, counteroffer, death or incapacity in applicable circumstances, illegality, destruction of essential subject matter, or failure of a stated condition. An option contract limits revocation if its own requirements are satisfied.
Can an offeror revoke an offer?
An ordinary offer is generally revocable before acceptance, even if it says it will remain open, unless an enforceable option or another doctrine makes it irrevocable. Revocation must be effective before acceptance and can sometimes be learned through reliable inconsistent action. The exact communication and timing are fact questions.
What happens when an offer expires?
The offeree's power to accept ends at the stated deadline. A response after expiration cannot unilaterally create a contract and ordinarily operates as a new offer that the original offeror may accept or reject. The party for whose benefit a deadline was included may sometimes waive it through timely objective conduct, but brokers should not assume waiver.
What is the difference between an offer and a counteroffer?
An offer begins a proposed bargain. A counteroffer responds with materially different terms, rejects the original offer, and proposes a new bargain. It makes the original offeror the new offeree. An inquiry asking whether the offeror might consider a change does not necessarily reject the offer if it does not condition acceptance.
Who makes the offer at a real estate auction?
Ordinarily, the bidder's bid is the offer. At an absolute auction, Illinois authority recognizes acceptance when the auctioneer's hammer falls, subject to the announced terms. At an auction with reserve, the seller generally retains the ability not to accept the bid under the stated terms. Always read the auction conditions.
Are these official PSI questions or legal advice?
No. The practice questions are original. Illinois court materials, the Frauds Act, and the exam bulletin were checked through August 1, 2026. This is exam education, not legal advice. A live offer dispute requires the entire document history, communications, timestamps, authority, auction terms, and review by qualified Illinois counsel.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026
- Illinois Supreme Court, Melena v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., offer, acceptance, and consideration
- Illinois Courts, official decision discussing definite and consistent contract terms
- Illinois Courts, official decision discussing offer expiration and late acceptance
- Illinois Courts, official decision discussing rejection, counteroffers, and terminated offers
- Illinois Courts, official real estate auction decision on bid and acceptance
- Illinois Courts, Pattern Civil Jury Instructions contract chapter revised November 2025
- Illinois General Assembly, 740 ILCS 80/2 land-sale writing requirement
The current official outline controls the tested scope. Statutes, regulations, and official agency materials control when a general study rule and a jurisdiction-specific rule differ.
Editorial status
Checked against primary sources
The Pass Illinois editorial team last checked this guide on August 1, 2026. Every practice question is an original study item, and the source links above let you verify the rules that support the lesson.