Hello, unfortunately the signed offer does not obligate the seller to sell only to you. The fact is, the seller is not obligated to you unless there is a fully executed contract. In the meantime, the seller has the right to continue to show the property and to take the best offer to sell the property.

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Dera Liz:

The answer to your question is yes. I am not quite sure what you mean by "purchass offer" but because it contains the word offer, I do not see how it could be obligating to the opposing side of the deal. Here in New York State neither the buyer nor the seller is truly obligated until after they have both signed legal contracts under the guidence of an attorney. Usually the buyer will sign the contracts first and have their attorney forward the signed contracts along with their initial down payment check back to the sellers attorney. Once the seller's attorney receives the same, the seller would then meet with their attorney and sign the same contracts. The seller's attorney would then forward a fully executed contract back to the buyers attorney and desposit the buyer's downpayment check (this check is deposited into an escrow account of the seller's attorney).

When the buyer's attorney receives back a fully executed contact and the down payment check has been deposited, the deal is then considered to be in cotnract. At this point in time the seller cannot sell the home to somebody else unless the buyer breaches the contract or the deal dies.

You question is kind of vague, if this answer is not helpful enough for you, please contact me and we can discuss it further. Either way, good luck!

Sincerely,
Mitchell Feldman
Associate Broker
Madison Estates & Properties, Inc.
Office: (718) 645-1665
Email: MitchellSFeldman@aol.com

Liz,

The seller can indeed go with another purchaser even with a signed purchase offer. Furthermore, the seller can still choose to go with another offer even after the buyer has signed contracts and given a partial down payment. While this is less often the case, unless the seller has signed the contracts, not the purchase offer/binder, they can still move forward with another offer. The other offer is generally at or above asking price with more attractive terms.

In rare cases, the seller can even go with another buyer after the contracts are fully executed. This requires the agreement of all parties and a walk away offer to the original purchasers along with compensation to the original buyer's agent.

If the seller has not accepted the first offer in writing,there is no legally binding contract so the seller could take another offer.