Accepted offer

We put an offer in on a house last Monday. On Friday the seller contacted our Realtor with a counter offer which DH and I accepted. We had to sign paper work for the seller acknowledging that due to the age of the house there is a high probability that lead paint was used. This agreement included a pay back from the seller at closing. We were suppose to get the contract by today. Home inspection was set up...Then tonight we get a call from our Realtor saying another offer was received on Monday. Can the sellers agent take another offer while they are suppose to be preparing our contract? We were told when we accepted the offer that we had 15 days to get the home inspection and have the contract reviewed- DH and I thought this was a binder since the seller signed the offer, we signed paperwork and were given a time frame...do we have any recourse? Our Realtor feels the sellers agent sat on our paper work but is there anything we can do? Sorry so long!

Re: Accepted offer

First off, I'm sorry that happened to you...that really sucks.

I believe since you technically weren't in contract yet, they had every right to keep taking offers. I know for the house I'm currently in contract with, there was an accepted offer on the house before we even saw it. Our offer came in more than the fist offer, and the seller gave the 1st offer a chance to counter, but we ended up getting the house in the end. They should at least give you the option of putting in another offer??

There's a bunch of really knowledgeable people on this board that will probably have a better answer for you that I just did. Good luck!

Re: Accepted offer

Where are you located? On Long Island -- and pretty much in the "metro area" of New York -- the seller is not locked into sale until the contract is fully executed. So typically, around here, the buyer makes an offer, negotiations ensue, if the offer is accepted, the buyer does a home inspection, and then the seller's attorney prepares the contract, which is sent over to the buyer's attorney for the buyer to sign (and put down a down payment). Then, the contract goes back to the seller's attorney for the seller to sign. Only after the seller signs is the property "in contract," meaning unavailable because the seller cannot take other offers.

For this reason, I always advise my buyer customers and clients to move QUICKLY once we have an accepted offer. I try to get them to do the home inspection within the next day or two after having their offer accepted, so that issues can be resolved and we can go to contract asap. Even though the buyer typically submits a written offer and signs disclosure forms, such as the lead paint disclosure, there is no binding contract holding the seller to the deal at this point.

Until the seller signs the contract, they are free to take other offers (and don't need to offer you a chance to up your offer), or simply change their mind for no reason at all.

Outside of NY (and in upstate NY), it works differently. There, the real estate agents actually prepare the contract for the parties to sign, and there are no attorneys involved (maybe some areas have an attorney review period, which is what you were referencing?). If an actual contract was signed, then the seller would be bound to the contract. But around here at least, a seller would not want to be bound to the contract with a home inspection contingency, meaning the buyer could walk away if the home inspection didn't turn out the way they wanted. Which is why on Long Island, we usually do the home inspection before going to contract (barring some extreme circumstances).

Unfortunately, from your post, it sounds like the seller never actually signed the contract, in which case, they are free to take another offer. You can always try to up your offer if you really want the house, but I know this type of thing can create mistrust and sour a buyer on a house. If that's the case with you, you just have to trust that you will find something better.

Good luck!

Re: Accepted offer

Yup, this just happened to us. We had an accepted offer and before we were officially in contract, someone out bid us. They gave us the opportunity to offer more money. We did, but it wasn't enough and we lost the deal.
We were bummed but I'm trying to believe that just means it wasn't meant to be and there's something better out there for us.

Re: Accepted offer

Like the other folks mentioned, unfortunately because you weren't "in contract" yet - they're able to go with another buyer. It completely sucks and it's not fair, and we've dealt with it before.

Only advice I can give you is to just keep on moving forward knowing that there is a house out there for you and when it's right, it will work out. We had so many deals fall through, almost went into contract 3 times but something happened, and this time around, it's been so smooth and it just feels right..and I honestly think if we went with another house I would never love it as much as the one we're going with now.

Re: Accepted offer

We have an accepted offer on our house and are having an open house this weekend. Until we are in contract the house is free to keep showing. If someone put in a higher offer, which we are hoping, we are of course taking it. Our job is to get as much as we can for this house. If you love the house, you can always up the offer.

Accepted offer

Turns out that we were given the opportunity to increase our offer which we did BUT the seller decided he did not like the amount we were putting down on the house. Our bid was higher yet the seller went with a lower offer. The real estate agent for the seller actually lied to our agent. She told our agent that the seller would make a decision by tonight but he actually told the other couple he accepted their offer yesterday and they had the home inspection today. Apparently the roof has a major problem and their is no CO filed for a balcony that was recently added. The seller was aware of the CO issue but was hoping it would be over looked. The other couple is most likely going to walk away from the deal so the agent called our agent and told him what was going on. I know the Westchester housing market can be tough but this entire situation seems a bit suspect. We are letting this one go...back to the home search!

Re: Accepted offer

Eek! Def sounds suspent and very similar to something we went through. Glad to hear you are walking away. You'll find the perfect home soon!!

Re: Accepted offer

Oh man, the seller sounds sketchy. Hope you find your dream home soon!