Contracts

    Offer and Acceptance (Mutual Assent)

    The matching offer and acceptance that create the mutual assent, or meeting of the minds, required for a contract.

    Offer and acceptance is how parties reach mutual assent, sometimes called a meeting of the minds. One party makes an offer, and the other accepts its exact terms. A change to the terms is a counteroffer, not an acceptance.

    A counteroffer terminates the original offer. The party who made the first offer is then free to accept or reject the counteroffer.

    On the exam

    A counteroffer ends the original offer. The original cannot later be accepted once a counteroffer is made.

    Exam trap

    A listing price is an invitation to negotiate, not an offer a buyer can accept to form a contract.

    Tested in

    Contracts (12% of the exam)

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    This definition is Florida real estate exam-prep education, not legal, tax, or professional advice. Verify current rules against the official source before relying on them for a real transaction. Back to the full glossary.