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National curriculum lesson · Contracts

Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting

An offer creates a power of acceptance according to its terms. Acceptance must match the offer, be made by the proper party while the offer remains open, and be communicated or delivered as required. A material change is a counteroffer that rejects the original offer. Rejection, revocation before effective acceptance, lapse, death or incapacity in many situations, and illegality can terminate an offer.

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

What is the exam-ready answer?

An offer creates a power of acceptance according to its terms. Acceptance must match the offer, be made by the proper party while the offer remains open, and be communicated or delivered as required. A material change is a counteroffer that rejects the original offer. Rejection, revocation before effective acceptance, lapse, death or incapacity in many situations, and illegality can terminate an offer.
Official syllabus mapping for Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting
Official syllabus topicOffer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting
Official PSI areaContracts
Published area weight19% of the 100-question national portion
Exam portionNational salesperson portion
Source editionPSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026

The Rule

PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.

The lesson

These ideas work together. On the exam, the wrong answers usually describe a nearby concept, so learn where each one stops.

Definite offer

An offer must show present intent and reasonably definite material terms. An invitation to negotiate or advertisement is not automatically an offer.

Mirror-image acceptance

Acceptance must agree to the offered terms. Changing price, closing, included property, contingencies, or other material terms creates a counteroffer.

Communication and delivery

Contract language and applicable law determine when acceptance becomes effective. Signing alone may be insufficient if notice or delivery is required.

Electronic contracting

Electronic records and signatures can form contracts when legal and platform requirements are met. The parties should retain the complete record and audit trail.

Decision rule

Build a timeline and identify the last unchanged offer that was effectively accepted before termination.

Georgia-specific distinction

Georgia forms commonly state how notice and delivery occur. A Georgia licensee should follow the form's exact communication rules and document time-sensitive delivery rather than assume that a signature alone created the contract.

Worked example

Scenario. Seller changes Buyer's $420,000 offer to $430,000 and signs. Buyer never accepts the change.

Reason it through. The price change is material, so Seller made a counteroffer and rejected Buyer's original offer.

Answer. No purchase contract formed on these facts.

Common exam traps

  • Treating a counteroffer as acceptance
  • Assuming silence accepts
  • Ignoring delivery terms
  • Reviving a rejected offer without new assent

Original practice questions with detailed explanations

These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.

Question 1

A seller changes only the closing date on a buyer's written offer, signs it, and sends it back. What is the legal effect of the seller's response?

  1. A. Acceptance, since the price is unchanged
  2. B. A counteroffer that rejects the original offer
  3. C. Acceptance, subject to the buyer's approval
  4. D. A binding amendment to the buyer's offer
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: B. A counteroffer that rejects the original offer

Acceptance must mirror the offer, and the closing date is a material term, so the seller's change is a counteroffer that rejects the original. Treating it as acceptance because the price held is the classic trap: any material change counts, not just price.

Question 2

A buyer's offer says it stays open until Friday at 5 p.m. On Wednesday, before the seller accepts, the buyer delivers a written withdrawal. On Thursday, the seller signs an acceptance. Is there a contract?

  1. A. No, because the buyer revoked before acceptance
  2. B. Yes, because the offer ran until Friday
  3. C. Yes, if the acceptance reaches the buyer by Friday
  4. D. No, because no earnest money was deposited
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: A. No, because the buyer revoked before acceptance

An offeror can generally revoke any time before acceptance, even if the offer names a later deadline, unless an option or other binding promise keeps it open. The Friday deadline is the plausible reason to say yes, but a stated deadline alone does not make an offer irrevocable.

Question 3

A buyer's offer says acceptance is effective only when notice of acceptance is delivered to the buyer. The seller signs the offer unchanged at 4 p.m. The buyer revokes at 4:30 p.m., and the signed offer is delivered at 5 p.m. What is the result?

  1. A. A contract formed at 4 p.m. when the seller signed
  2. B. A contract formed at 5 p.m. on delivery
  3. C. No contract, because the signing was not witnessed
  4. D. No contract, because the buyer revoked before delivery
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: D. No contract, because the buyer revoked before delivery

When the offer requires delivery, acceptance is not effective until delivery occurs, and this offer was revoked before that. Assuming the contract formed at the moment of signing is the trap Georgia forms are written to avoid.

Ready to move on?

You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.

  • Explain Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting in one clear answer without notes.
  • Separate Definite offer from Mirror-image acceptance using a fresh example.
  • Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
  • State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
  • Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
  • Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.

Recommended next lesson

Continue with Contract Performance, Breach, and Remedies. Once a contract has formed, the next lesson covers what happens when someone fails to perform: material breach, liquidated damages versus penalties, rescission, and why a buyer can seek specific performance for unique land.

Return to the Contracts hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.

Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting questions

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

Is Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting on the Georgia real estate exam?

Yes. It belongs to PSI's Contracts content area, which is 19% of the 100-question national portion. PSI publishes content-area weights, not a guaranteed question count for this individual lesson.

What is the main rule for Offer, Acceptance, Counteroffers, and Electronic Contracting?

Build a timeline and identify the last unchanged offer that was effectively accepted before termination.

What Georgia-specific distinction should I remember?

Georgia forms commonly state how notice and delivery occur. A Georgia licensee should follow the form's exact communication rules and document time-sensitive delivery rather than assume that a signature alone created the contract.