accepted offer
I had an offer that was called ‘the accepted offer’. I brought in an inspector within 3 days of the accepted offer. As I tried to move forward with the purchase, I was told today by the broker that ‘substantially higher offers have come in’. I thought that after I was accepted and started the…
I had an offer that was called ‘the accepted offer’. I brought in an inspector within 3 days of the accepted offer. As I tried to move forward with the purchase, I was told today by the broker that ‘substantially higher offers have come in’.
I thought that after I was accepted and started the inspection, the property was moving forward as mine. I know nothing is set in stone til the contract is signed…but has anyone experienced such a thing before?
I’m out $600 on inspection for a place that just got swiped out from under me.
I wouldn’t want to work this a broker like this. Sorry to hear of your trouble. Please give us the name to save others from the hassles and the expense.
It’s hard to know who’s responsible — broker or seller. If broker is not returning your calls, maybe you could go by the house and explain situation to seller. Maybe broker did this w/o their knowledge and maybe they will reimburse you or have broker reimburse. Doubt it, but can’t hurt to try. Sorry, that really does suck.
OP, it’s 1.49 here. I agree, it’s completely unethical and they shouldn’t have accepted your offer (or ours) while they were still waiting for others to come in. We were also out of pocket $750 for the inspection. While it certainly takes time to get to the point of signing the contract, if you can push the seller to get you the docs asap, it can only help. Of course, the other problem then is you might have paid for a lawyer too before they pull the rug out from under your feet…
Discuss with selling broker and try to get your costs covered. If they really accepted your offer, and you moved speedily, they have an ethical obligation to make sure you don’t loose a penny on this.
It happened to my wife and i when we sold a house that we got a higher offer while waiting for the buyer to sign his contract. Because the buyer had been so slow moving we called his broker and explained there was a better offer… he then rushed to match it and sign the contract. We were prepared to accept the other offer and cover the costs of the slow guy. We thought it was the right thing to do. Still do. Speak up, they may hear you.
“The only way to protect yourself is to try and move into contract as soon as possible, I’m afraid”.
I guess that’s my problem with it–i was never given a chance to move into contract. Only a week was spent between 1st open house, our accepted offer, inspection, our asking for contracts.
I believe the broker should have never called our offer ‘accepted’. Broker should have said: ‘you made a decent offer, but we will continue to accept bids. You are in the running. We will decide later” THEN we wouldn’t have wasted money on an inspection.
I understand an owner obviously accepting the best offer for his property but when someone pays for an inspection and takes the loss, that seems so unfair.
I had the same thing happen too earlier this year — it really sucks, but it’s hard to avoid. It seems especially common with smaller brokerage outfits — rather than wait and do a more reputable “best and final”, they get the seller to accept an early offer, then use that as bait for more offers and ultimately back out when a higher offer comes in. The only way to protect yourself is to try and move into contract as soon as possible, I’m afraid.
Out the broker! Out the broker!
Yep, there’s no legal obligation but I think there’s certainly a moral one. Same thing happened to me, only there were actually two contracts being worked on so I paid for the inspection AND lawyers fees. Owner was going to pick which contract came in with best terms. I balked and made a lot of noise until I got most (not all) of my money back.
Nothing you can do . . . except out the broker.