Multiple Offer Question

[ohiobuyer]

clarification on counter offer

I have read through the thread on buyers accepting counter offers and hope to get clarification.

First I made an offer
Was told there was another offer
Was contacted and offered a counter offer by seller which stated "shall remain open for acceptance until 8-22-15 at 10 pm
On 8-21-15 at 3pm was advised seller had accepted original offer due to change in terms

To me of course being a layman the seller was obligated to wait until the time given on the counter which had her signature attached

Is this true or am I missing something. I also believe had she not placed a date or time in the remain open period she would be free to accept any offer at any time

Thank you

 

[quincy]

I have read through the thread on buyers accepting counter offers and hope to get clarification.

First I made an offer
Was told there was another offer
Was contacted and offered a counter offer by seller which stated "shall remain open for acceptance until 8-22-15 at 10 pm
On 8-21-15 at 3pm was advised seller had accepted original offer due to change in terms

To me of course being a layman the seller was obligated to wait until the time given on the counter which had her signature attached

Is this true or am I missing something. I also believe had she not placed a date or time in the remain open period she would be free to accept any offer at any time

Thank you

If you read through the thread, I am not surprised you were left confused.

Did you read the cases/case summaries I provided links to? The first case of Dickerson v. Dodds does not seem entirely unlike what you say happened to you. And it is not unusual in situations like yours that a lawsuit (or at least the threat of one) will result from such a situation.

As a most general rule, there is no legal and binding contract until both the seller and the buyer have signed the contract and the acceptance of the contract by both parties is known to both the seller and the buyer.

But facts always matter in law. In real estate sales, not only do all of the terms and conditions of the contract matters, the timing of withdrawal of offers and acceptance of offers matter, and the state where the property is located matters.

I think that it is the smart seller who does not put himself in a position where he has two or more buyers, each of whom have at the same time a contract in their hands signed by the seller.

You can speak with a real estate lawyer in your area of Ohio if you are interested in learning where you stand legally with your own offer.

But we are straying from alligatorob's concerns a bit, because alligatorob has not responded to any offer. There is no acceptance of an offer and no counteroffer. He knows that there are two offers on his property, but he has been shown by his real estate agent only one of the two. He wonders why. Maybe he will return to tell us what he learned from his real estate agent.