Its not an offer unless they put it in writing, and get a closing date on it. If a better closing date comes in, tell the first one you have an offer without the sale of house contingency or whatever and they have x number of days to reply or the contract is cancelled.
It may be a legal contract in you state if its verbal, but verbal agreements are so hard to prove in the details that even in those states its as though you must put it in writing.
Posted by Lowry Betancur on August 03, 2008 at 18:53:12:
These are the scenerios:
-First Offer-Buyer A: 215,000 (25K cash, 95K financing)
Contingent to buyers sell their property
Sept 15. I verbally agreed to the terms.
-Second Offer-Buyer B: 210,000 (45K Cash, 165K financing)
NO contingency
Closing date Sept. 30
How can I deal with the bidders. Is it legal to tell bidder- B how much Bider A is offering, so that he can top it and escalate the price.
Can I tell Bidder= A that I changed my mind and that they will required to offer more or remove the contingency in order to go through with the offer.
Any guidance in this matter will be greatly appreciated.
I agree with some of the points Troy and Rich make, and there’s nothing wrong during negotiations with telling all parties who stands where. But if the question is “Is it OK to go back on my word if somebody else offers more money?” you have to answer that one yourself
Until the agreements are signed by all parties, you still have the option to negotiate other offers. There’s nothing illegal in telling prospective purchasers what offers you are working with, as long as you are the seller.
Since you verbally accepted Buyer A’s offer, maybe you should move forward. Buyer A is giving you more money then Buyer B. Before agreeing to the contingency you should find out the status of the home being sold. Is it listed? Under contract? Priced to sell? Etc. These are important details you should consider if you are dealing with this kind of contingency. BTW: Your numbers for Buyer A doesn’t add up.
Ask Buyer B if the are willing to in a back up position meaning, if Buyer A cannot close, you will accept Buyer B’s offer.