“If I make an offer on a short sale and get it accepted, can the seller keep trying to get higher offers and submit them to the bank, effectively knocking out my offer?”
Answer:
Great question, complex answer…
First of all, once your offer is accepted, the property must be placed in “Contingent” status in the Realtor’s MLS (multiple listing service).
Once that happens, interest drops considerably, so additional offers are unlikely. You just want to be sure your agent verifies that the seller’s agent changes it to “Contingent.”
However, if the seller gets another offer, they CAN accept it as a back up offer. On the other hand, listing agents who understand short sales (many don’t!) know that banks only deal with one offer at a time. So they probably won’t submit another offer unless yours cancels or is so dreadfully low that they don’t think the bank would agree to it anyway.
Bottom line, it’s unlikely that the seller will submit other offers to the bank unless the bank rejects yours.
Like I said, it’s complicated.
