Home Sale Question

[COcheesehead]

Saw this on a legal site:

It's perfectly legal in most states for the seller to reject a full-price offer, or indeed any offer (unless the reasons are discriminatory). The exception is that in certain states, sellers must accept a full-price, "clean" offer -- that is, one that comes with no contingencies, such as the sale being conditional upon financing or approving the results of a home inspection. But those don't come along very often, and you probably put a contingency or two into your offer.

 

[Texas Proud]

Not true. If they accept what you are OFFERING (you are offering to sell your house for such and such a price) to the letter, and they agree to YOUR terms, you are under contract. The buyer has quite literally assented to your offer.

This is very, VERY rare but it can be binding.

Also, the OP mentioned that you listed a bit higher than comps...if that's the case, you *could* have an issue with appraisal.

Nonetheless, every market is truly different, so take all of this advice with a grain of salt.

Are you a lawyer and do you know this for sure?


From what I understand, if it is not in writing it is not under contract...

IOW, someone cannot just come to your front door with the money and say "I accept" and you have to sell....

 

[pb4uski]

Saw this on a legal site:

It's perfectly legal in most states for the seller to reject a full-price offer, or indeed any offer (unless the reasons are discriminatory). The exception is that in certain states, sellers must accept a full-price, "clean" offer -- that is, one that comes with no contingencies, such as the sale being conditional upon financing or approving the results of a home inspection. But those don't come along very often, and you probably put a contingency or two into your offer.

Did it name the "certain states"?

 

[COcheesehead]

Did it name the "certain states"?

No

 

[Huston55]

Saw this on a legal site:

It's perfectly legal in most states for the seller to reject a full-price offer, or indeed any offer (unless the reasons are discriminatory). The exception is that in certain states, sellers must accept a full-price, "clean" offer -- that is, one that comes with no contingencies, such as the sale being conditional upon financing or approving the results of a home inspection. But those don't come along very often, and you probably put a contingency or two into your offer.

I can attest that this is true. A friend got a "clean" , full price offer from a person that, unbeknownst to the seller, turned out to be a company (that the seller's neighbors were very unhappy about). He had to accept the offer or, get sued.

 

[pb4uski]

What state?

 

[RockyMtn]

The owner is not required to sell the property at any price at any time if they choose not to prior to an executed contract. The only time an offer becomes a binding contract is when both parties have executed (signed) the documents.

However, a seller could be in breach of his listing agreement by refusing to accept the full-price offer.

 

[Jerry1]

Others have said it, but I will repeat. It's about price and contingencies - the whole package needs to be evaluated. I have no way to know if this is true, but in buying the house I'm in now (bought a year ago), we won out to a full price offer because mine was a cash offer with no contingencies. The couple took less than their listed price because they wanted to get on their way. They were an older couple, they had a house built at their destination and it was complete and a few more bucks wasn't going to change their life. As the seller, you have to evaluate those things but in general, less contingencies is best and certainly worth a few bucks.

Keep in mind, there are two obvious pitfalls. One is the buyer who offers high and then during the inspection tries to work you down for every little thing they can find wrong with your house. This one isn't too bad because they have to inspect quick and hopefully other buyers are still eager. If the inspection does find something significant though, now you know it and there's no way around disclosing it.

The other one is the appraisal. Buyer wants the house, offers high, can't get a mortgage without adding more of their cash to the deal. They don't have the cash and the deal falls through. This takes awhile and you're house is off the market during this time.

In our deal, we had cash and the buyer knew we were planning on a major remodel of the house so unless the inspection identified a major problem (like the foundation), I didn't really care what they found. Sellers had their car loaded on closing day for the trip to their new house near DD. The moving van left the day before.

 

[Texas Proud]

Saw this on a legal site:

It's perfectly legal in most states for the seller to reject a full-price offer, or indeed any offer (unless the reasons are discriminatory). The exception is that in certain states, sellers must accept a full-price, "clean" offer -- that is, one that comes with no contingencies, such as the sale being conditional upon financing or approving the results of a home inspection. But those don't come along very often, and you probably put a contingency or two into your offer.

What legal site? One of the problems is that accepting does not include consideration... that is also a requirement of a contract...

I looked it up, and found a site that said that in Texas you need a written contract... from the site which is talking about verbal contracts...

While it is true that some contracts must be in writing, such as the sale of real estate, Texas courts will enforce many oral promises.

​

I have found a number of links talking about verbal offers, but they all seem to be.... 'I accept, put it in writing'....

I have also read that 'most' states require a written agreement and that in some states this might not bind the buyer and seller!!!


So, I am skeptical that accepting a listing is binding...

 

[MRG]

The seller can always find a way to get out. We were very eager to find our home in 2006 and found a place. Full price non-contingent offer, IIRC we agreed to skip some inspections. The owner couldn't agree to a possession date. They were thinking of staying till they found some land and built, maybe a year or so. It was a blessing in disguise.

 

[Clone]

There was a person at the company many years ago that would make offers on houses, contingent on the sale of his house. He would brag about what a good deal he had going, because he had bought the house at a very good price.

Of course, he expected to sell his existing house at a premium price. He did make a couple deals, but there were many folks who thought they had sold their house that were just being strung along.

 

[COcheesehead]

What legal site? One of the problems is that accepting does not include consideration... that is also a requirement of a contract...

I looked it up, and found a site that said that in Texas you need a written contract... from the site which is talking about verbal contracts...

While it is true that some contracts must be in writing, such as the sale of real estate, Texas courts will enforce many oral promises.

​

I have found a number of links talking about verbal offers, but they all seem to be.... 'I accept, put it in writing'....

I have also read that 'most' states require a written agreement and that in some states this might not bind the buyer and seller!!!


So, I am skeptical that accepting a listing is binding...

Here's the site.
Can a house seller refuse a full-price offer? - Nolo.com

For future reference, you can highlight a quote and hit search web and you can find the original page it came from.

 

[brucethebroker]

One of the problems with the seeming contradictory advice given so far is that real estate involves state by state regulation. Your state law may be different from my state.

1. In MY state, you do not have to accept any offer, by law. BUT, your listing contract may specify that if a full price, non-contingency offer is given, and you refuse it, you are obligated to pay the full commission to the Realtor. Check your contract.

2. In MY state, real estate sales are one of the few sales that cannot be enforced unless the deal is in writing. (You and I can have a "hand shake" agreement on buying a car, for example and it can be enforced in court, but not a real estate transaction).

Back to the advice of acceptance of a full price offer: ask your Realtor. If you want further clarification, ask his/her broker/owner. Or ask an attorney.

On which offer to take: I agree contingencies are nearly as important as price. Can you be assured of a closing in 30 or 45 days? Very important. Great offers are offers that close on time.

 

[pb4uski]

^^^^^ consistent with my understanding

The first one is because a Realtor is contracted to bring you a "ready, willing and able" buyer and if they do that and you decide not to sell you still owe them since they have done what you contracted them to do.

The second one has to do with statute of frauds... generally real estate transactions are of such significant $$$ and complexity that legislatures decided that written contracts should be required to protect both buyers and sellers.

 

[ronin]

I just emailed the RE agent asking him to send me a copy of the offer so that I can see for myself. I asked the agent (his son) who came to show the house yesterday about the offer and he said there were no contingencies. I want look it over at this point.

We had two showings yesterday. I've seen and talked to numerous people who are looking from seeing it on the internet. The agent says that there has been a lot of calls and that the open house should be busy.

I can see the logic of taking a full-price, no-contingency offer if it all looks good. I hope we can settle this soon. I am definitely leaning towards taking a full-price-ish offer like this and not dragging it out any more.

 

[Avalon]

@OP. Has you agent ever mentioned something called an option contract? In my home search over the past couple of years, I often see a new listing on realtor.com showing - status: active option (as opposed to pending, etc). Usually first day on the market and I assume at full asking price. My understanding is that the potential buyer puts down a deposit (separate from earnest money) that puts him at the front of the line, so to speak. It gives buyer several days to actually view a house (due diligence) and decide whether to proceed. If he passes, he looses his deposit to the seller as I understand it.
I've been curious about how these work, and if there are advantages to the seller or buyer.
Thanks and best of luck......

 

[Starsky]

Talk to your agent and get their advice on the best way to proceed. It is entirely market-dependent on how properties move. I have purchased properties in different areas of the country and have found the experience to be drastically different depending on current market conditions, inventory and timing. (i.e., if you live in the Bay Area, Portland or Seattle, comps are almost irrelevant and I'd be a lot more aggressive.)

As an example, we got in a bidding war last year in Seattle for a home listed at $399,000 that sold [and appraised] for $539,000. (...and I'm still happy we won)

 

[ronin]

First day of open house. Like a stampede of buffalo all the way to the horizon. Took 20 minutes to walk down the driveway to try to get out of here. So many people stopping me to ask questions. I had to go in at the appointed closing time and clear the place out. And still until I could lock the gate they were streaming up the driveway. One thing that pisses me off is all the nosy neighbors that seemed to think they had a right to look through all my stuff, waste the agent's time. Get the hell off my lawn, punk!

 

[Meadbh]

When I was selling my home in 2011, over 100 people came to the open house. However, I had competition down the street, and there were no offers. After the second open house two weeks later, there was a solid offer from a couple who had attended both open houses.

 

[harley]

One thing that pisses me off is all the nosy neighbors that seemed to think they had a right to look through all my stuff, waste the agent's time. Get the hell off my lawn, punk!

They do have the right. Open house, right? They probably aren't wasting the agent's time. He/she is mostly answering questions, not showing each group through the house. The neighbors are likely just cruising through, as you said, nosy. But it's certainly to be expected. It probably even helps you, as it makes it look to potential buyers that there's possible competition. And since at least half of the reason for an open house is to drum up potential customers for the agent, he/she is likely all in favor of them coming through.

 

[sunsnow]

Over the past year I have had three homes on the market. In each case, the first bid was lower and weaker than bids I received later, although it was always at least at full price. In one case the difference between the first bid and the accepted bid was 55K. Glad I didn't accept the first one!

 

[W2R]

First day of open house. Like a stampede of buffalo all the way to the horizon. [...]

Let us know how things are going! Wishing you the very best of luck and a profitable outcome.

 

[ronin]

Let us know how things are going! Wishing you the very best of luck and a profitable outcome.

Thank you very much. I appreciate a place where I can feel free to express my feelings about this significant life event.

 

[45th Birthday]

My experiences:

Full price offer: Selling a house some time ago, we received a full price offer on the first day from the wife of a C-list Hollywood producer. We were naively happy. Then, after the husband visited the house, they rejected the contract during the attorney review period. Our agent said, "oh, they've been doing that all over town." I wanted to slap her upside the head because had we known that we wouldn't have accepted the offer.

Selling a house more recently, a full price offer plus $1,000 from the first person who looked at it. Relocation buyer, knew the neighborhood from a previous stint in the area, loved the house. No contingencies, quick closing.

Nosy neighbors: For the house sold some time ago (it did sell for a bit less than ask a short while later), we specifically didn't do a public open house because the neighborhood women (and probably some men) would make great sport of touring the public open houses and gossiping. However, one neighbor actually maintained a realtor license for this very purpose (and bragged about it) and attended the broker open. When I saw her name on the list I called her up and told her how inappropriate and immature this was. She claimed that she was looking for a "friend" and finally hung up on me when I told her she wasn't being truthful.

Seller trying to back out of a contract: Recent purchase of a house where the seller started dropping the asking price by a large amount every several weeks. We bit and put it under contract at just under the last ask at a great price. Soon, the seller realized he owed more on the house than we were paying (he was a small time real estate wheeler dealer who wasn't too keen on details) and would have to bring $$ to the close. He told us he wasn't going to close. We told him we would immediately slap a lis pendens on the property, sue him for specific performance, and also notify all the debt holders (there were five I think, and some would have been able to call his loan). His attorney quickly got him to change his mind.

 

[kcowan]

The last 2 homes we sold had an agents open house, then entertained bids 3 days later. 3 days for bid repair opportunity then accepted the highest bid. Quick and easy. Could we have made more with a different approach? We will never know. They were 2000 miles apart.