Hi!
We have a verbally accepted offer and are waiting for the seller's lawyer to send us the contract. We feel like we've been waiting a while so I was wondering if there is a maximum amount of time you should wait before you start to think something fishy is going on? Are we just being impatient?

Are you being represented by an attorney? If not, might be a good idea to hire one and let him/her represent your interests. Representing yourself in a real estate closing might not be the easiest endeavor.

To receive a preliminary contract? Few days max.

If it's more than 3 business days, I'd get suspicious. These are boilerplate contracts and there isn't much to change except the buyer's name, the price, and the dates.

Do you have a broker representing you? If so, that person should be following up with the listing broker to find out what's going on.

Are the brokers and lawyers communicating? If so, less to worry. If it is a high end property needing some special clauses or sellers are not available to review the contract, it can take longer. However, they need to tell you the cause for delay.

We found out (the hard way) that any delay will probably not work out in your favor. We placed a fair bid, was told it was accepted and after 10 days found out that even though the sellers' attorney deposited our 10% down check, that the place was still being marketed and sold for $5K more with so much as the courtesy of asking us for a counter offer. This eventually resulted in our buying a larger place with a second bathroom on the same block and had the added bonus of purchasing a condo thereby avoiding the entire experience (read : horror) of dealing with a co-op board.