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There's not much point in doing that. I'm sure state law varies, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were places where you couldnt do it. Discuss it with your realtor.
The Colorado forms have an acceptance date & time. If the Seller's cannot meet that deadline but would want the offer; use a form called a Counter Proposal and makes a new acceptance date.
Our Amendments to the contract also have an acceptance date. If there is no acceptance the amend expires and the contract continues unchanged.
This. When I see offers with a deadline written into special provisions, it does two things: (1) it usually irritates the seller; (2) it tells me that the agent doesn't get the entire concept of "contract" which means that both parties have agreed to the terms and have signed off on it, and that the seller can easily strike and initial the "deadline" because there is no contract until everyone has agreed and signed off on it.
If you have a buyer who really really really wants a response by a certain date (not just because they're antsy), then having them sign a Termination of Offer at the same time that the offer is written and nicely ask for a response by then in a cover letter. That's more likely to be effective here, and your buyer is protected legally because until the Termination of Offer is signed and submitted to the seller, the buyer's offer is "live" and can be signed and accepted by the seller at any time - just an email or especially a phone call is not legal protection.
As an attorney I would advise all agents to have a deadline in an offer. It is not difficult and it certainly should not be confrontational. It is just flat out common sense smart. An offer does not legally expire until is withdrawn.
How many lazy real-estate agents will submit a written offer without a deadline, get no counter and just move on? LOTS...Legally that offer is still valid until withdrawn. If something were to happen down the road or the seller finds out about say a Walmart buying the land next door - well that Seller can just sign the offer and bind the new Buyers.
Its flat foolish to not put a termination date in every offer. I give all Sellers 72 hours. If you can't respond to an offer in 72 hours your not serious about selling or you are trying to wait for something better to come along. If you can't respond b/c the Seller is out of time, its really simple to extend a deadline....but not having a deadline is flat out foolish. Having a deadline forces the other side to respond...if the agent on the other side can't pick up the phone to call about a problem with a deadline, then he isnt doing his job.
I always write deadlines into the special provisions section of the Texas contract.
Putting a deadline in an offer actually doesn't make sense because a seller can't agree to respond to the deadline without executing the offer into a contract because an offer isn't signed by a seller. If it's not signed, the seller hasn't agreed to anything which also means the seller hasn't agreed to respond by your deadline. An offer isn't for one-way communication.
I'm sorry, but this paragraph, and especially the bolded sentence, makes no sense whatsoever. The seller doesn't have to agree to respond. He's being told by the prospective buyer that if he doesn't respond by the deadline that the offer is void. It's a very simple concept and it makes perfect sense for the buyer to put a deadline in an offer. By doing so, the buyer limits the ability of the seller to shop the offer.
And that is exactly what I did when I purchased a condo in Miami Beach last year. I went to see a condo the first morning it was on the market and I wrote up an offer that night with a response deadline of 5:00pm the following day. My agent received a call around 3:00pm that next afternoon from the listing agent stating that the seller would not be responding to my offer by the deadline because several people had come by that day and they were expecting another offer or two to come in sometime that day or night and they wanted to review them before responding to mine. I instructed my agent to tell her that the deadline stood and that if we didn't have a response that we would just move on to another unit. Well, at 4:55pm the listing agent called back and said that the seller would accept my offer after all. I have no doubt that the deadline is what prompted the seller to accept my offer. Without it, he would have just tried to string me along as he waited for a better offer to come in.
Last edited by MadManofBethesda; 08-28-2013 at 02:32 PM..
Reason: typo
How is the ability to shop the offer limited by a deadline?
IF the offer is to be shopped, that can be done quite easily in a few hours.
There is little reason to impose a deadline for acceptance of an offer. All it does is make a buyer look difficult, and provides no tangible benefit in exchange for that fact.
This is naïve. For the proper situation (one where there is not another viable alternative), a deadline focuses a Seller on accepting a deal that might otherwise be considered of marginal attractiveness.
This is naïve. For the proper situation (one where there is not another viable alternative), a deadline focuses a Seller on accepting a deal that might otherwise be considered of marginal attractiveness.
Other than tangentially agreeing in general with the disclaimer in my statement, i.e., "There is little reason...," this may be naïve, as your statement assumes that the seller is subject to duress by deadline.
Irritation is more likely than duress, unless the terms of the offer are sublimely delightful.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 08-28-2013 at 01:52 PM..
As an attorney I would advise all agents to have a deadline in an offer. It is not difficult and it certainly should not be confrontational. It is just flat out common sense smart. An offer does not legally expire until is withdrawn.
How many lazy real-estate agents will submit a written offer without a deadline, get no counter and just move on? LOTS...Legally that offer is still valid until withdrawn. If something were to happen down the road or the seller finds out about say a Walmart buying the land next door - well that Seller can just sign the offer and bind the new Buyers.
You're an attorney, you can write a deadline in your contracts. Using our Texas Promulgated forms, a real estate agent cannot write in a deadline because it's considered practicing law. We aren't attorneys.
And no, a seller can't just sign an offer a few days or weeks later and bind the buyer anymore. You have to have an acknowledgement by the other party and a "meeting of the minds". If there is no meeting of the minds, what the seller just signed is not a valid contract. It used to be that an offer could be signed at any time, but not anymore. Laws/Rules change as lawsuits go through the courts.
Last edited by FalconheadWest; 08-28-2013 at 02:43 PM..
You're attorney, you can write a deadline in your contracts. Using our Texas Promulgated forms, a real estate agent cannot write in a deadline because it's considered practicing law. We aren't attorneys.
And no, a seller can't just sign an offer a few days or weeks later and bind the buyer anymore. You have to have an acknowledgement by the other party and a "meeting of the minds". If there is no meeting of the minds, what the seller just signed is not a valid contract. It used to be that an offer could be signed at any time, but not anymore. Laws/Rules change as lawsuits go through the courts.
FalconheadWest, could you please point to the case law or statute that supports this? As recently as within the past five months we were told by TREC that the offer needs to be officially withdrawn (the buyer writes "Withdrawn" across the front of the first page of the offer and sends it to the listing agent) in order to protect the buyer from the seller simply signing the contract. So when did that change, and how?
How is the ability to shop the offer limited by a deadline?
IF the offer is to be shopped, that can be done quite easily in a few hours.
Yes, but it limits that shopping to a small, finite period of time. A seller can't just sit on the offer for days and wait and see if something better comes along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
There is little reason to impose a deadline for acceptance of an offer. All it does is make a buyer look difficult, and provides no tangible benefit in exchange for that fact.
You're absolutely right that it provides no tangible benefit to the seller; it is not meant to do so. The tangible benefit is to the buyer in that he'll know what action the seller intends to take by the deadline. The deadline forces the seller into a decision of whether to accept the offer as is, counter, or simply let it expire by not responding and hope that something better comes along down the road, which puts a lot of pressure on the seller. But in any event, the buyer will have the seller's decision by that deadline rather than simply wondering when or if the seller will respond.
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