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You have to decide what you want to do and then you must sign the appropriate paperwork.
I am mystified. You liked the house well enough to make an offer. Now you don't like it any more? If you did not want to pay more you could have just returned the paperwork that your offer stands as given and price not changed.
It's possible that you still might have gotten the house. It's possible that your offer was the best and the other parties didn't raise their offer enough to better yours.
Would you prefer that the seller just took the highest offer and not give you a chance to raise your price to get the house? Most people are offering about $10,000 less than they want to pay in order to have room to negotiate. If you offered the very last penny that you were willing to pay, you just tell them, "no higher".
However, if you have decided that you no longer want the house, you must still sign the paperwork to complete the process.
You have to decide what you want to do and then you must sign the appropriate paperwork.
I am mystified. You liked the house well enough to make an offer. Now you don't like it any more? If you did not want to pay more you could have just returned the paperwork that your offer stands as given and price not changed.
It's possible that you still might have gotten the house. It's possible that your offer was the best and the other parties didn't raise their offer enough to better yours.
Would you prefer that the seller just took the highest offer and not give you a chance to raise your price to get the house? Most people are offering about $10,000 less than they want to pay in order to have room to negotiate. If you offered the very last penny that you were willing to pay, you just tell them, "no higher".
However, if you have decided that you no longer want the house, you must still sign the paperwork to complete the process.
The problem I see is that it depends on whether or not this was an official counter offer or not. If the call for highest and best was done as a "reject your offer but counter with highest and best" then you first offer would be dead. If the counter was just a letter or email asking for highest and best but not rejecting your offer, then your offer would exist until the expiration date on it. So which agent is right depends on the how the seller called for the highest and best. Agents here will do it either one of those ways so whether or not your first offer still stands depends. Some multiple offer addenda state that if you don't sign acknowledging the multiple offer situation, your offer is automatically terminated. At this point, I assume your offer has expired so it it likely a moot point anyway.
As for you withdrawing an offer, I know here they have to be in writing. We don't use termination forms for that, we just write it up on one of the blank addendum forms that we have access to.
Oh and not all multiple offer situations cause a full price or over price offer. I have been in two this year where neither buyer was wiling to pay list price. I'm with OregonWoodSmoke in that I don't get why you didn't just stick to your original offer.
Personally, I think the listing agent could have had a big problem on his/her hands with the counter proposal they prepared and submitted -
(going on with information given by the OP and not knowing the whole c-proposal and more specifics) based on verbiage provided, they may have set up a quagmire: The first paragraph states: Terms: The terms and conditions of the above referenced document (my offer) are accepted subject to the following:
And the there is "C. OTHER TERMS: Addendum 1 to be part of RPA. 2. Due to multiple offers, buyer to submit highest and best for both terms and conditions on separate addendum. 3. Item 4B2 to be reviewed by seller"
In my humble opinion, and as devil's advocate; that counterproposal is open to interpretation. It is stating upfront in para 1 that the terms and condition (of the referenced offer) are accepted - SUBJECT to certain criteria being further met. So, original offer price (as a term and condition) is acceptable, so long as the buyer basically submits some-sort of piece of paper (thus such action fulfills and simultaneously kills its referenced condition) with anything they want to say regarding a price .... its requiring an unilateral action to be performed by the buyer - once completed, the original price is then still in effect and enforced. By nature of the verbiage in the counter, it doesn't specify that any such 'addendum' is further subject to agreement by seller (which opens up more can of worms). The counter might as well have said Due to multiple offers, buyer to submit a piece of paper stating that they've scratched their butt. OK, I've done that and here's the requested piece of paper, seller ... so original price is still in play. I'm just pointing out this sort of thing to reiterate to all of us about the perils we can create with an innocent counter proposal!! (By nature of the first paragraph, C. Item 2 is further requesting that an somesort of an offer is to be given within an already accepted offer - if the buyer signs the counterproposal)
TBH, I hate counter proposals addressing multiple offer scenarios, especially when its highest and best scenario. I have known and heard of too many agents who have accidentally placed multiple buyers under contract on the same property because they haven't really paid attention to, and walk thru the mechanics of what they have written in their counter-proposal. That's when utter nightmares occur and multiple attorneys get involved!!
Whenever I've had to deal with multiple offers and subsequently may have to create and handle multiple counterproposals, I typically will do it as a reverse submital; ie create a counter proposal which appears to have been originated by the buyer-side, ie their signature is to be first; whereupon when they all come back, it is up to the seller to choose the one they want to sign etc. Imo, it is safest not to officially address 'highest and best' as a counterproposal, but merely as a message to all via email, phone, asking them to resubmit, convey and confirm their highest and best offer (even if its the same price), so if need be, you counter or accept just one offer and avoid a potential 'mare and quagmires.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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I would have used the CAR form WOO Withdrawal of Offer instead of the Cancellation of Contract, as I believe from what is posted is closer to the original intent of the buyer and the "facts" as presented. You could have also merely ignored the counter offer, which would have killed the deal and left everyone back at square 1.
The multiple counter offer merely changes ONLY those parts of the original offer that are referred to in the original offer. If it is made in a timely fashion (before the expiration of time that the seller had in the original offer) then the time period for acceptance starts running anew. (usually 3 days, but can be modified by the seller to give the buyer a different time period to consider the counter offer). The seller signed the CO, which means they accepted your offer SUBJECT TO the items they changed.
As for having another real estate agent jump in and offer an opinion about whether the agent needs to learn real estate law crosses the ethics line and I would come out of my chair if I heard one of my agents say something like that.
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