The seller can't rescind their counter offer - or can they?
This past week we had another smoking hot Phoenix listing with offers. After meeting with the sellers they decided that they wanted to counter only one of the offers. They did so as per normal in writing. We gave the buyers 24 hours to accept or reject the counter offer. The buyers agent emailed me in the morning saying the buyer accepted the counter. I said that's great but a contract is not a valid until it's in writing. She understood and said she'd work on getting the counter offer back to me before 1:00 instead of later that evening.
An hour after that discussion with that agent, another agent called wanting to submit an offer - all cash considerably higher than the previous offer. I let her know there was a counter offer pending and expected back by 1:00. She then wanted to know if they wrote an offer right away and got it to me would the seller consider their offer. I let her know I'd call the seller and find out. Seller said yes - bring on the other offer. She then had to consider if she wanted to rescind the previous counter offer still pending or keep it on the table. She decided to keep the 1st counter offer in play until after the 2nd offer came in to see if it had the terms and conditions as the other agents said it would.
We did receive the other offer within a half an hour but we didn't have the proof of funds in hand for the all cash sale. I discussed again with the seller what the options were at this point. Did she want to rescind the counter offer on the table or keep it in play - knowing full well we still needed to get the proof of funds from the new buyers. She wanted to take her chances and rescind the offer. At that point I called and emailed the agent and rescinded the counter offer per the sellers instructions. Of course it wasn't the news neither her nor her buyers wanted but she knew that the seller had the right to do so. The agent then said, respectfully, would it be ok for my buyers to submit another offer? Well of course it would. I let her know I would be meeting with the seller in 2 hours and I would present both offers at the same time.
I met with the seller and guess who's offer was on the table? Yup - the 1st buyer came up in price and showed that she was ready, willing and able to close within 2 weeks - all cash. Those terms were very attractive to the seller and she accepted it on the spot. Inspections are complete, docs are signed, and we're closing next Friday. Everybody is happy even though there were some up and downs in the process. Both the buyer and their agent did an excellent job of dealing with the situation of our hot and very competitive Phoenix real estate market.
Having and experienced professional agent on your side whether you are the buyer or seller is critical in a competitive market. It takes a great deal of finesse and skill to navigate the choppy waters - per se - in the Phoenix desert!
The seller can't rescind their counter offer - or can they?
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