IS AN OFFER DEADLINE SIMPLY A SUGGESTION OR IS IT FOR REAL?

I agree wholeheartedly, John! I do see some agents who will list the property, get a better-than-list Offer and two days later, the LA is having an open house and the house doesn't go to the first-day buyer. You find 30 days later in MLS that the agent double-ended it and the price was lower than the other buyer and there were also concessions made. 

You're so right - what is fair to all involved is how it should be handled, still getting the buyer the best overall 'deal' possible.

Hello John and I would have to say it's real.

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day 2018 and ...

I wrote a new post about reaching out to ActiveRain members that are following me at the AR network, your name showed up #137 on my list ;o)

In our MLS we stick pretty tight to the proposed closing date. If there is a delay and it's not the buyers fault we stick with. I'm not aware of any agents who use the closing date as an excuse to switch horses to a richer offer but I'm sure it has happened.

Great post John Juarez - Rather than repeat, I echo to a tee what Debe Maxwell, CRS has already written. We have since then revised contract forms to make it fair and ethical. But as you know, creative agents (right or wrong) will always find new tricks up their sleeve. I think being unconscionable is like an infectious disease. And I hate to hear, "I'm just doing what my Seller told me to do." If you believe that, you'll believe I built a castle onto a swamp. 

In our area we don't have that often multiple offers. 

And to get an extension for the closing date is always a war and fear to lose initial deposit. 

great article and thanks for Follow

Just popping by to say hello and I hope you're having a great start to 2019, John!

John, I agree offer due date can be very unpleasant for Buyers if they respect the Seller's request and find out that they changed their mind. Thanks for writing on the subject.

John Juarez So interesting to see another state's contract form. Yours is quite concise. Ours takes 40 to 50 pages as each one of your points is another addenda.

We do not have multiple offers that often and we rarely put in a time limit for offers or for responses.

With multiple offers it's good to play nice and give each buyer a fair shake, or at least disclose to them all that it's a race to the finish line.

Me again! A year later we are still having multiple Offers on most homes under $300K - but, fewer than last year this time. While we still have them, fewer agents are submitting Offers with deadlines - most sellers don't pay a bit of attention to the deadlines! SO frustrating!

John Juarez - It was great to receive a comment from you today!

I hope to see and hear from you more!

Popping in again, John! Hope all is well and you're having a fabulous summer!

Absolutely agree you can't ride the fence.  Pick one or the other for sure.  Great blog....thanks for sharing!

Agreed - if you give a deadline, you have to, at the very least, accept offers up to the deadline.

It’s funny that I’ve heard mixed feelings about this but you nail it down so we’ll here.

Wayne and Jean Marie Zuhl I do feel like there are a lot of folks out there who don’t actually respect deadlines all that much unfortunately, but right is right. :)