Counteroffer Form — Hawaii Edition Template

Under black-letter contract law, a counteroffer is a rejection of the original offer plus a new offer — the mirror-image rule means any material change in terms kills the original offer and puts a new one on the table. That doctrine (familiar from classic cases and Restatement (Second) of Contracts §§ 36, 39, 59) is exactly why sloppy counteroffer paperwork creates disputes: parties sign conflicting documents, nobody can tell which terms govern, and deals end up in litigation over whether a contract was ever formed.

This Counteroffer Form imposes order on the negotiation. It references the original offer by date, parties, and property; states that the original offer is rejected and replaced except as expressly modified; provides numbered lines for each changed term (price, closing date, contingencies, inclusions, financing terms); sets a firm expiration date and time after which the counteroffer lapses automatically; addresses revocation before acceptance; and makes clear that acceptance must be communicated in the manner specified for a binding contract to form. Sequential numbering (Counteroffer #1, #2, #3…) keeps multi-round negotiations clean.

The 3-page template works for both seller counteroffers and buyer counter-counteroffers, and the included notes cover multiple-counteroffer situations (where a seller counters several buyers simultaneously — language making each counter non-binding until seller's final acceptance is included, a structure popularized by the California Association of REALTORS® multiple counteroffer practice). The 50-state notes flag local conventions on acceptance deadlines and delivery methods. As with every form in this library: drafting template with state variation notes, not a guaranteed state-specific form.

About this Hawaii Edition: Every form names the brokerage firm, acting through its principal broker, as the contracting party and routes compensation through the firm, consistent with Hawaii's real estate license law (HRS Chapter 467) and the Hawaii Real Estate Commission's rules. Dual agency is permitted only with the informed written consent of both seller and buyer, so the agency consent document is drafted as a true disclosure-and-consent with an express opt-out and dated signature lines. The seller disclosure is built around HRS Chapter 508D (the mandatory seller disclosure statement, with its timing, update, and rescission mechanics) and adds island-specific items such as leasehold versus fee simple, lava zones, flood and tsunami zones, and cesspools. Electronic signatures are addressed under Hawaii's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act; because Hawaii has no dedicated broker lien statute, the compensation forms rely on contract remedies and escrow instructions. No association forms are reproduced.