Question: We saw a home we liked and put in a full-price offer with only one small stipulation asking the seller to re-paint a bedroom. The seller now wants us to up our bid. Isn't the seller required to accept our full-price offer?

Answer: You may have made a full-price bid, but you did not accept the seller's offer.

The seller offered the property for sale at a given price, say $200,000. You are willing to pay $200,000 but want some minor repair work included in the deal. The catch is that an offer includes both price and terms. You have asked for a term not offered by the seller, the bedroom repairs, and -- in effect -- rejected the original offer and made a counter-offer which the sellers can now accept or reject.