G. H. Morioka

Wow and congratulations for having so many offers! This is simple contract law, so you do NOT have a valid contract until both parties--seller and buyer--agree to the terms. In the first two cases, you received an offer, and countered. Because you did not accept any offer, there is not a valid contract in either of the first two instances, until, of course, the people you countered agrees to your new terms, and then the first person to agree is the individual in contract. If, you feel that the two offers coming in will be even better than the first two offers or your counter, it's best to withdraw your counters on the first two offers BEFORE someone agrees to the counter, which will put you into contract. However, if the other two offers are just "inquiries" and you do not have any documents in hand, you might wait it out to see what comes through from other parties and keep your fingers crossed that the other people with counters give you enough time to look at the new offers. Of course, counters--like purchase offers--should have "expiration periods" so if that has already elapsed, chances are high that the first two potential buyers have decided against renegotiating the price on the home.

As always, your agent will be able to best advise you regarding this matter and, hopefully, these next two offers will be even higher than the others. Good luck! - Sat Jul 19 2008, 13:21