* Writing an Offer to Purchase Real Estate
* Contingencies in a Purchase Offer
* Earnest Money Deposit
* The Closing Date
* Transfer of Possession
* Getting Your Financing Ready Before You Write an Offer
* Fee Simple vs. Leasehold: A Hawaii-Specific Wrinkle
* Common Addenda Attached to a Hawaii Offer
* Making Your Offer Competitive in a Multiple-Offer Situation
* Mistakes Buyers Make When Writing an Offer
* Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction & Overview: Writing an Offer to Purchase Real Estate
The standard Hawaii purchase contract (the Deposit, Receipt, Offer, and Acceptance, or "DROA") runs about 12 pages, and it has lots of blanks and places to change terms. It's important to go through every single paragraph to make sure the offer is exactly as you want it. Many of the contingencies are based on dates or specific verbiage in the offer, so you really have to read the entire thing and make sure you construct the offer how you want it.
An offer isn't just the purchase price. The price is often the least negotiable part of a competitive Hawaii transaction — the timeline, the contingency periods, the financing terms, and who pays for what at closing can matter just as much to a seller deciding between offers. I walk every client through each of these levers before we write anything, because a well-structured offer at a slightly lower price often beats a higher number with sloppy terms.
Contingencies in a Purchase Offer
There are several contingencies in the Hawaii Purchase Contract, including among others, the loan contingency, the appraisal, termite inspection, home inspection, association (HOA/condo) documents, encroachments, and deposits. Each of the contingencies creates a window of time for either the buyer or seller, which must be fulfilled according to the contract, or the contract may be nullified.
For instance, if the loan is not approved by a certain date and approval delivered to the seller, the seller has the option to cancel the contract. The inspection contingency allows the buyer to have the home inspected by a professional so that they can determine if they want to continue with the purchase. If the buyer decides that the inspection results are not acceptable, the buyer can back out. In Hawaii real estate this inspection period is often referred to as the C-51 period (the number of the standard contingency paragraph most brokers use), and the buyer can basically back out of the transaction for almost any reason during that window.
Let's say you make an offer to buy a house in Aina Haina or Manoa, and during the inspection period you find that the house needs some plumbing work in the kitchen. At this point you can decide to continue on with the purchase, cancel the purchase, or ask the seller to make repairs or credit money in order to continue. It's probably most common to ask the seller to give some money as a credit so you can get the repairs done once you move in. Since a lot of real estate on Oahu is older housing stock, almost every home inspection results in some kind of discovery that needs to be addressed before closing.
Beyond the general home inspection, a handful of other contingencies show up constantly in Hawaii contracts:
It's important to meet all your contingencies as a buyer, in writing and on time, since the seller earns the right to cancel the escrow if you fail to do so.
Earnest Money Deposit
Most sellers won't accept an offer unless you have at least about $1,000 deposited with escrow. This is because they want you to have some real reason to continue on with the purchase. If you have no money deposited, you have less reason to stay in the deal if you start to feel like backing out.
In reality, the buyer hardly ever loses their deposit. I have rarely seen it happen, but it does happen once in a while, generally when a buyer just disappears or refuses to meet a contingency deadline in bad faith. As a buyer, you show the seller how serious you are by the amount of deposit you put in escrow. The more you put in, the more comfortable the seller will feel about entering a contract with you. There is no legal minimum, but $1,000 is pretty much the floor I see in practice. I have seen deposits as high as $25,000–$50,000 on luxury purchases — generally, the larger the purchase price, the larger the deposit.
Often in Hawaii real estate transactions a buyer will give a deposit with the initial offer to buy, and then increase it after the inspection period, once they've decided to move forward.
A word of caution on wiring your deposit: wire fraud targeting real estate escrow is a real and growing problem nationally, Hawaii included. Never wire funds based on emailed instructions alone — always call your escrow officer directly, using a phone number you already have on file (not one from the email), to verbally confirm wiring instructions before you send anything.
The Closing Date
The closing date, like everything else, can be negotiated, and should be used by the buyer to try and make the contract favorable. For instance, let's say you found a nice home in Kailua and you want to make an offer that is below the asking price. If you find that the seller needs to close by a certain date, they may be willing to let go of their nice Enchanted Lake house for a little less than asking if you agree to close on the date they requested.
It's good to find out when the seller wants to close before you write your offer, so you can use it to your advantage. Since Hawaii has a lot of investment and second homes, you may find vacant properties to buy, and usually this means the seller wants to sell fast so they can stop paying the mortgage. In these cases you can offer less but close fast, and the seller may take your offer.
On a typical Oahu transaction, escrow runs roughly 30 to 45 days for a cash purchase and 45 to 60 days when financing is involved, though this varies by lender, property type, and how quickly contingencies get resolved. Build in a little extra time for condos, since the HOA document review and any needed HOA approvals can add a week or two.
Transfer of Possession
You can take possession of a property at any time the seller agrees to. Sometimes you will move in before closing, which is called "early occupancy." In this case you become a tenant to the seller, who becomes your landlord, be it only for a few weeks. You would normally pay rent to the seller for an agreed-upon amount, and it should be documented with a written early-occupancy agreement, not a handshake. This arrangement is pretty rare, since a seller doesn't want you to cancel escrow and then end up living there as a tenant with no clear path forward.
Most commonly you get possession on the day of closing, which is when the ownership is recorded at the Bureau of Conveyances. In Hawaii this typically takes place a day after loan funding, but you can sometimes get a same-day recording if escrow requests it of the Bureau. It's not a sure thing, but it does happen.
The reverse situation — a seller who wants to stay in the home for a period after closing — is also common, especially when a seller is buying their next home and needs time to move. This is usually handled with a post-closing occupancy or "rent-back" agreement, where the seller pays the new owner rent (and sometimes a security deposit) for an agreed number of days after closing.
Getting Your Financing Ready Before You Write an Offer
Before you write an offer in this market, you need a current pre-approval letter from a lender, not just a pre-qualification. A pre-qualification is a quick estimate based on what you self-report; a pre-approval means a lender has actually reviewed your income, assets, and credit. Sellers and listing agents can usually tell the difference, and in a competitive situation, a weak pre-approval letter can cost you the house before price is even discussed.
A few financing basics that affect how your offer gets written:
Whatever loan type you're using, get your lender to confirm in writing what your contingency deadlines need to be before we submit the offer, not after. Setting an unrealistic loan contingency date is one of the most common ways a buyer ends up in default.
Fee Simple vs. Leasehold: A Hawaii-Specific Wrinkle
Most Hawaii real estate is sold fee simple, meaning you own the land and the structure outright. But a meaningful share of Oahu properties — certain condo buildings, some Ewa Plain and Kapolei neighborhoods, and scattered pockets elsewhere — are sold leasehold, meaning you own the structure but lease the land underneath it for a set term.
This matters directly to how you write an offer:
Always confirm a property's tenure — fee simple or leasehold — before you fall in love with it or write an offer. It's one of the first things I check on any listing before we talk strategy.
Common Addenda Attached to a Hawaii Offer
The base DROA rarely travels alone. Depending on the property and your financing, expect some combination of the following attached to your offer:
Every one of these has its own deadlines and fine print, which is exactly why I said at the top of this page: read the whole thing, every time, even on your fifth Hawaii purchase.
Making Your Offer Competitive in a Multiple-Offer Situation
Oahu's limited land means well-priced listings frequently draw more than one offer, sometimes within days of hitting the market. A few things that consistently help a buyer's offer stand out, beyond simply offering more money:
I go through this checklist with every buyer before we write an offer in a competitive situation, because the difference between an accepted offer and a rejected one is often in these details, not the price.
Mistakes Buyers Make When Writing an Offer
After 24-plus years of writing offers in this market, the same handful of mistakes show up again and again:
None of these are complicated to avoid. They just require slowing down and having someone who does this daily walk through the contract with you line by line.
Do I need an attorney to write an offer in Hawaii?
Hawaii doesn't require an attorney for a standard residential purchase — your Realtor prepares the offer using standard Hawaii Association of REALTORS® forms. That said, unusual situations (trust sales, probate, complex leasehold terms) are a good reason to loop in a real estate attorney.
Can I back out after my offer is accepted?
Yes, during your open contingency periods, generally without penalty beyond the time already spent. Once all contingencies are met or waived, backing out can put your earnest money deposit at risk.
How much should I offer if a home is priced well?
In a well-priced, competitive listing, offering below asking rarely works. We look at recent comparable sales together and talk through the specific listing's likely competition before landing on a number and terms.
What's the difference between a contingency and an addendum?
A contingency is a condition that must be satisfied for the contract to move forward (like loan approval or a clean inspection). An addendum is a separate document attached to the contract that adds or modifies terms. Many addenda create contingencies.
Ready to write an offer, or want to talk through your specific situation first?
Contact my team and we'll walk through your offer strategy before you ever sign anything.