Question:
“I offered on a house and the sellers countered back, giving me 24 hours to respond. I did accept it, but a couple of days after the deadline. I saw the sellers when I had my home inspection and all seemed fine. They even told me they’d leave me the refrigerator, which wasn’t even in the contract. But here’s where things went downhill. I asked the seller to fix a couple of items and their agent told my agent that my offer was never accepted and they were accepting another higher offer. Can they do that??”
Answer:
If an offer or counter-offer is accepted after the expiration and both parties take actions consistent with an accepted offer, then the offer IS considered accepted.
The fact that the sellers let you do your home inspection sounds to me to be consistent with an accepted offer.
So first, have your agent tell their agent NOT to accept another offer as you believe you have a binding contract.
Then run, do not walk, to the nearest real estate attorney!
