Offer to Buy Question

[gregg450]

We are selling our house and had a new house we were trying to buy. I had an offer on my house but it was well below what we wanted to get. I accepted this offer to hurry up and get the house we wanted. The house we were trying to buy had an offer 1 day before us and it looks like we lost it. I have since had a backup contract for the full price on my home. Since I agreed to the lower price for obvious reasons and now I see that it was in vain, can I cancel the first offer and go with the backup for full price. There has been no inspection yet and it is on the 3rd day of the agreement. What are my options?

 

[NYClex]

If a valid offer has been accepted this is a valid contract. If you don't perform, you will be in breach and can be sued. However, there are many issues around such a problem. First of all: did you accept the offer in writing? Have you signed any contract or something similar? And if, are there any provisions in the contract about rescinding it?

Contracts for the sale of land must be in writing to be enforceable, however there are some exceptions to this rule, so one has to be careful if one wants to disregard an oral contract.

If you are seriously considering to get out of the first deal I would advise you to consult an attorney first before you end up getting into big trouble.