Expressions of Interest: How to Run an EOI Campaign When You Sell Privately

Ask most people how to sell a home and you’ll hear two options: put a price on it and wait, or hold an auction. There’s a third option that sits between the two, and it’s often the one that suits a private sale best. You invite buyers to put their best offer in writing by a set closing date, then you choose. That’s an expressions of interest campaign, usually shortened to EOI.

It sounds like something only big agencies run. It isn’t. With a bit of planning, a conveyancer in your corner and clear rules for buyers, you can run one yourself. Here’s how it works, where it fits, and what changes from state to state.

What is an expressions of interest sale?

You set a closing date and time (for example, 5pm on a Tuesday a few weeks after launch) by which buyers submit their best offer in writing.
Buyers put forward a price and their terms: deposit, finance, conditions and settlement date.
You aren’t obliged to accept any offer. After the closing date you can accept the one that suits you, negotiate with the strongest one or two, or decline them all.
Nothing is binding until a contract is signed by both sides. In WA, the buyer’s signed offer and acceptance form usually becomes the contract once you accept, and in some other states buyers make their offer by signing the contract itself, so get advice before you countersign anything.
It’s a private treaty sale with a deadline. Queensland’s government, for example, describes a tender sale as one where “you specify a closing date, after which you consider all the offers”, then “either choose the best one or reject all of the offers”.

You’ll see the same idea called a “best offers by” campaign, a closing date sale or a private tender. The details differ a little, but the core is the same: a deadline that gives buyers a reason to act.

How does EOI compare with a set price or an auction?

	Set asking price	Expressions of interest	Auction
How buyers make offers	Any time, usually around the asking price	In writing, by a closing date	Bidding in public on the day
Do buyers see each other’s offers?	No	No	Yes
Can buyers include conditions?	Yes	Yes (finance, building and pest, settlement)	Usually no, the contract is unconditional
Who controls the timing?	Open ended	You, through the closing date	You, through the auction date
Are you obliged to sell?	No	No	Yes, once bidding passes your reserve
Cooling-off for the buyer?	Usually, depending on your state	Usually, with exceptions in the ACT and SA	No
Best for	Homes with plenty of recent comparable sales	Unusual or hard to price homes, strong demand	Hot markets where buyers will compete openly

The big difference from an auction is that you keep the final say. A buyer’s offer can come with conditions, and you can weigh a slightly lower offer with clean terms against a higher one that’s subject to finance or the sale of their own place. Our guide to how to evaluate a property offer walks through exactly that comparison.

When is an EOI campaign a good idea?

An EOI works best when the market can’t easily tell what your home is worth, or when you expect more than one keen buyer. It’s a good fit if:

Your home is hard to price. A character home, an unusual block, a renovated place in a street of originals, or anything with few recent sales nearby.
You expect strong interest. A deadline turns several interested buyers into several written offers at the same moment, which is a far better position to choose from than one offer at a time.
You want control without the pressure of auction day. You set the deadline, but nobody has to bid in public and you aren’t forced to sell.
Buyers will need conditions. If most of your likely buyers need finance or an inspection, an auction’s unconditional contract can scare them off. An EOI lets them make an offer they can actually commit to.

And when doesn’t it suit? If your home is a fairly standard one with plenty of comparable sales, buyers already know roughly what it’s worth, and a well researched asking price usually does the job with less fuss. EOI also needs real interest to work. Run one in a flat market with only one or two enquiries and the deadline can come and go with nothing to show for it. Start with researching and setting your selling price whichever method you pick.

Can you run an EOI in your state?

As far as we can tell, yes. None of the state and territory consumer guides we reviewed prohibit inviting written offers by a closing date, and the Queensland and Northern Territory governments describe sale by tender as a standard way to sell. But the paperwork you need before you advertise, and what happens to cooling-off afterwards, depends on where the property is.

State	Before you advertise or accept	Things to know for an EOI
NSW	A contract of sale must be prepared before you advertise	Underquoting laws bind agents. The buyer gets a 5 business day cooling-off period after exchange, unless they waive it with a 66W certificate (NSW Government)
Victoria	A Section 32 vendor statement, given before the buyer signs	If your sale runs through an estate agency, including a PropertyNow listing, offers invited by a set date and time could count as a fixed-date sale, so the reserve must be published 7 days beforehand (more below). Private sales generally carry a 3 clear business day cooling-off for the buyer, with exceptions such as sales close to an auction
Queensland	A Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 2), given before the buyer signs	Queensland calls this a sale by tender. The ban on price guides is an auction rule and doesn’t cover tenders. The 5 business day cooling-off period applies to most residential contracts; sales at auction are exempt, and the buyer can waive or shorten it in writing
South Australia	A Form 1 vendor’s statement, served on the buyer	Price advertising rules bind agents. Cooling-off is 2 clear business days, but SA has a specific rule for sales by tender that can remove it, depending on when the contract is signed
Western Australia	Your offer and acceptance paperwork, prepared with your settlement agent	No mandatory cooling-off period. The offer and acceptance form, once both sides sign, is usually the contract itself
Tasmania	Contract prepared by your conveyancer or lawyer	No mandatory cooling-off (it can be added to the contract as an option)
ACT	A draft contract and the required documents, available from the moment you offer the home for sale	Access Canberra’s Reality Check guide says there’s no cooling-off when a property is sold by tender. Whether your EOI counts as a tender depends on how it’s set up, so ask your solicitor first
Northern Territory	Contract of sale prepared by your conveyancer or lawyer	4 business day cooling-off, which the buyer and seller can agree to waive, shorten or extend. Auctions are exempt

Across every state, get your conveyancer or solicitor involved before the campaign starts. Our state guide to cooling-off periods has more on how each one works.

The Victorian rule to plan for

Victoria changed its property sales laws from 1 October 2026. For auctions and fixed-date sales held on or after 16 October 2026, the agent must publish the seller’s reserve as a single dollar figure at least 7 days beforehand. In its industry Q&A, Consumer Affairs Victoria says an agent inviting offers by a certain date and time “could constitute a fixed-date sale and requires the seller’s reserve price to be disclosed for 7 days”.

Those rules don’t apply to a sale an owner manages entirely without an estate agent. But PropertyNow is a licensed agency, so if you list a Victorian home with us and run a closing date campaign, plan on choosing your reserve early and having it published 7 days before your closing date. Consumer Affairs Victoria also says that if the reserve changes, the new figure has to be public for a further 7 days before the sale can go ahead, so settle on it before you launch. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s summary has the detail, and our guide to Victoria’s new underquoting laws explains what they mean for private sellers.

How to run an EOI campaign yourself, step by step

Line up your conveyancer or solicitor first. Ask them to prepare the contract and your state’s disclosure documents (a Section 32 in Victoria, a Seller Disclosure Statement in Queensland, a Form 1 in South Australia). Tell them you’re running an EOI, and ask how cooling-off will work and whether they’d like buyers to sign anything with their offer.
Work out your numbers before you launch. Research recent sales and decide the lowest price you’d accept, and the terms that matter most to you (settlement date, deposit, conditions). In Victoria, if the campaign runs through an agency, this figure feeds into the reserve you’ll publish.
Pick a closing date. Give buyers enough time to inspect, arrange finance and get advice. Allowing at least two or three weekends of inspections is a sensible starting point, but match it to the market. Choose a weekday time when you and your conveyancer are available.
Write the ad around the deadline. Say clearly that it’s an expressions of interest campaign, give the closing date and time, and explain how to submit an offer. PropertyNow’s free AI ad writer can draft your description from the address and the property’s details and features, and you can edit or regenerate it before it goes live.
Decide how you’ll talk about price. Price guide rules in NSW, Victoria, Queensland (auctions), South Australia and WA are written for agents, and because PropertyNow is a licensed agency, some of them can touch your listing. Whatever applies, never advertise or suggest a figure you wouldn’t accept. It wastes buyers’ time and money and quickly costs you their trust. Our guide to price advertising, underquoting and bait pricing covers the rules.
Give every buyer the same offer instructions. Ask for the price, deposit, finance position, any conditions, preferred settlement date and their conveyancer’s details, all in writing. A simple offer form keeps offers easy to compare side by side.
Run your inspections and keep a log. Note every enquiry and inspection, so you can remind each interested buyer of the closing date a day or two out.
On the closing date, compare the whole package. Look at certainty as well as price. You can accept the best offer, go back to the top one or two for their final position, or decline them all and keep marketing.
Move quickly to contracts. Once you’ve chosen, send the buyer’s details to your conveyancer the same day so contracts can be signed. Have the deposit paid into your conveyancer’s or solicitor’s trust account rather than your own bank account.

Running it fairly (and keeping buyers on side)

An EOI only works if buyers trust the process. A few habits keep it clean:

Treat every buyer the same. Same deadline, same instructions, same information.
Never invent rival offers. Buyers talk, and a seller caught bluffing can lose every buyer in the room.
Keep offers private. You can tell buyers there’s strong interest. You shouldn’t share one buyer’s figure with another.
Decide your approach to early offers. A buyer may try to buy before the closing date. You can accept a strong early offer, but tell the other interested buyers so nobody’s caught out, and in Victoria ask your conveyancer how it fits the 7 day reserve rule (Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Q&A says an offer can be accepted before an auction and the auction cancelled).
Be clear about what happens after the deadline. If you plan to negotiate with the top two, say so in your offer instructions.

If you’d like more eyes on the campaign while the clock is ticking, our social media advertising campaign shows your property to buyers in your area until its budget is used up. It’s on the add-ons page.

What happens to cooling-off after an EOI?

In most states, the contract you sign after a closing date is an ordinary private treaty contract, so the buyer gets the normal cooling-off period for your state. That’s different from an auction, where there’s no cooling-off.

Two places need extra care. The ACT has no cooling-off for property sold by tender, and South Australia has a rule for sales by tender that turns on how long after the closing date the contract is signed. In both, whether an EOI counts as a tender depends on how the campaign is documented, which is a question for your conveyancer before you launch. In WA and Tasmania there’s no mandatory cooling-off at all.

The bottom line

An expressions of interest campaign gives you a deadline that brings buyers to the table at the same time, without the all or nothing pressure of auction day. You keep control: you set the closing date, you read every offer in full, and you’re never obliged to sell. Get your conveyancer and your state’s paperwork sorted first, set clear rules for buyers, keep your price signals realistic, and plan for Victoria’s reserve rule if your home is there. Do that, and running an EOI on your own sale is very doable.

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Frequently asked questions

What does expressions of interest mean in real estate?

It’s a way of selling where buyers submit their best offer in writing by a set closing date. The seller then reviews the offers and can accept one, negotiate with the strongest buyers, or decline them all. It’s a private treaty sale that runs to a deadline.

Can I run an expressions of interest campaign without an agent?

Yes, in every state and territory we looked at, provided you have the right paperwork. You’ll need your contract and your state’s disclosure documents ready (in NSW and the ACT, before you advertise), and it’s worth asking your conveyancer how cooling-off will apply to your campaign.

Do I have to accept the highest offer in an EOI?

No. You aren’t obliged to accept any offer. Many sellers choose a slightly lower offer with better terms, such as an unconditional offer or a settlement date that suits them.

Is an EOI offer legally binding?

Generally not on its own. In most states the sale becomes binding when contracts are signed and exchanged, and the buyer may then have a cooling-off period. In WA, a signed offer and acceptance form is usually the contract itself, so read anything you’re asked to sign carefully.

Is there a cooling-off period after an EOI sale?

In most states, yes: the normal private sale cooling-off applies. WA and Tasmania have no mandatory cooling-off. The ACT has no cooling-off for sales by tender, and South Australia has a specific tender rule, so check with your conveyancer how your campaign will be treated.

Can I accept an offer before the closing date?

Yes, but tell the other buyers who’ve shown interest so the process stays fair. In Victoria, if your sale runs through an agency, ask your conveyancer how an early sale fits the rule that the reserve is published 7 days before a fixed-date sale. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Q&A says an offer can be accepted before an auction and the auction cancelled.

How long should an EOI campaign run?

There’s no set rule. Allowing at least two or three weekends of inspections gives buyers time to arrange finance and advice while keeping the urgency of a deadline.