How long between the offer & the signing of the contract?

should be two-four weeks.

OK what takes places during those 2 to 4 weeks? This is a sponsor unit so there is no board package that needs to be done and I have my cash ready so shouldn't we have signed something by now.

board package is after the contract and obviously moot in your case.

first the contract is drawn up---reviewed with seller and his/her attorney; sent to buyer's attorney, reviewed with buyer....usual back and forth.

i presume that you are the buyer? what does your attorney say is taking so long and by the way how long is so long?

It's been 3 weeks. So maybe that isn't very long, it just feels long to me. I worry about other offers being made which I understand can happen until the contract is signed.

have you been given any reasonable responses as to what gives? how long since you signed?

You mean how long has it been since my offer was accepted? 3 weeks. I haven't asked my lawyer why we don't have an offical contract yet but I think I'm going to on Monday morning. Someone else can make an offer in the meantime though can't they? This is what I don't understand. What good is an accepted offer if someone can still outbid me until the signing of the contract?

have you seen a draft of the contract? you make it sound like a contract is a one page document that is immediately signed...generally not true--some negotiation and back and forth involved.

you should be having this discussion with your attorney.

" What good is an accepted offer..."

Answer: No good at all. Legally it is just about worthless. Which is why I find it strange that in three weeks you haven't contacted your attorney to ask what is going on, whether the lawyer received the contract draft, why s/he hasn't shared it with you, and what the heck is going on. I don't know about a sponsor sale, but in other types, 3 weeks is a long time to not even have a contract in hand to sign and send back. In a typical coop sale, at least, that isn't sponsor involved, agreement to signing is about a 2-3 week process. 1 to 1.5 weeks for your lawyer to do due diligence/review board minutes & building finances, etc. Meanwhile terms are being dickered in a draft contract. Once you sign and send it to seller, seller usually responds within a week with a signed back contract.

you should have had something by now... speak with your attorney but could be slow because of summer. still i would pressure my attorney

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Since an accepted offer is really useless, when do you know for sure that an apt. is yours?

short of when you close, depends a lot on the circumstances and the nature of the principals. breaking a signed contract can certainly happen--more often in these times by the buyer i would think.

as noted earlier, would recommend giving your attorney a call first thing tomorrow to properly review all of this.

my buyers' imbacile, i mean attorney, took 4 weeks just to read the 4 page contract. after that she started looking at the financials and reading the offering plan cover to cover. a month later we has the buyers' signed contract and the check..... but wait.......... the imbacile told my attorney that she could not deposit the check until they talked yet again..... 2 weeks after that, the check was deposited.... almost 3 months when you have a "trust fund baby" as the buyers' attorney who works when she feels like it.