What is the exam-ready distinction?
| Roadmap post | 206 of 500 |
|---|---|
| Official syllabus topic | Contracts: Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffer, and Multiple Offers |
| Official PSI area | Contracts |
| Published weight | 19% of the 100-question national portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Content checked through | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes a weight for the complete official area, not a guaranteed count for this individual comparison. Use the source, document, actor, event, and timing stated in the question before applying a memorized definition.
Side-by-side comparison
Read across each row. The terms are deliberately compared on identical dimensions so the difference remains clear when the exam hides the vocabulary inside a scenario.
| Decision dimension | Offer | Counteroffer | Multiple offers |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Proposal capable of acceptance | Rejection of the prior offer plus a new offer when terms materially change | Two or more offers the owner may evaluate |
| Who holds power | Offeree during the offer's life | Original offeror becomes offeree to the counteroffer | Each offer follows its own revocation, rejection, expiry, and acceptance status |
| Contract effect | No contract until effective acceptance | Original offer is ordinarily no longer open after a true counteroffer | Acceptance of one does not silently create contracts with the others |
| Exam clue | Definite terms and intent to be bound | Changed price, date, or other material term | Seller choice, presentation, confidentiality, and timing |
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A buyer offers $410,000. The seller signs a response changing the price to $425,000. The buyer then tries to accept the original $410,000 offer.
Reason it through. The seller's material price change is a counteroffer and ordinarily rejects the original offer. The buyer cannot revive it unilaterally.
Answer. The $425,000 response is a counteroffer, and the $410,000 offer is no longer open unless renewed.
Common exam traps
- Calling a request for information a counteroffer without examining the words
- Treating a counteroffer as acceptance
- Assuming multiple offers may be disclosed freely
- Ignoring delivery, expiry, or revocation
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1What is the usual effect of a true counteroffer on the original offer?
- A. It accepts both offers
- B. It extends the original automatically
- C. It rejects the original and creates a new offer
- D. It creates an option contract
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. It rejects the original and creates a new offer
It rejects the original and creates a new offer is correct. An offer gives the offeree the power to accept while it remains open. A true counteroffer changes a material term, rejects the original offer, and creates a new offer. Multiple offers are separate proposals, not an auction and not automatic permission to disclose one buyer's terms to another. The remaining options, It accepts both offers; It extends the original automatically; It creates an option contract, do not match the controlling category or fact.
Question 2A buyer offers $410,000. The seller signs a response changing the price to $425,000. The buyer then tries to accept the original $410,000 offer.
- A. The price change is an acceptance because the seller signed.
- B. Both prices are binding contracts.
- C. The listing licensee chooses which price controls.
- D. The $425,000 response is a counteroffer, and the $410,000 offer is no longer open unless renewed.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. The $425,000 response is a counteroffer, and the $410,000 offer is no longer open unless renewed.
The seller's material price change is a counteroffer and ordinarily rejects the original offer. The buyer cannot revive it unilaterally. The supported conclusion is: The $425,000 response is a counteroffer, and the $410,000 offer is no longer open unless renewed. The other choices replace those controlling facts with a neighboring concept or an unsupported absolute rule.
Question 3What should a candidate identify first when comparing Offer Versus Counteroffer Versus Multiple Offers?
- A. Build a timeline for each document: delivery, change, counteroffer, revocation, expiry, acceptance, and communication, then apply any brokerage presentation duty.
- B. The option with the longest definition, without classifying the facts.
- C. A memorized Georgia rule, even when the question asks for a national concept.
- D. The answer that sounds most favorable to one party, regardless of the document or event.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Build a timeline for each document: delivery, change, counteroffer, revocation, expiry, acceptance, and communication, then apply any brokerage presentation duty.
Build a timeline for each document: delivery, change, counteroffer, revocation, expiry, acceptance, and communication, then apply any brokerage presentation duty. That sequence identifies the legal category before the label. Definition length ignores the facts, jurisdiction confusion answers a different question, and sympathy cannot replace the document, event, calculation, or governing rule.
Mastery tracking
Mark this distinction mastered only when every statement is true.
- Define every compared term without using the other term as the definition.
- Rebuild the comparison table from memory.
- State the decision rule and Georgia distinction without notes.
- Solve the worked example after changing one controlling fact.
- Explain why every trap and distractor is tempting but wrong.
- Answer all three original questions correctly in mixed practice on a later day.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Lease Option Versus Lease Purchase. Continue to roadmap comparison 207.
Return to the complete exam-concept library or the Contracts hub.