Agreement on Offer vs. Signed Contract

I'm going through the same thing tobytoby. I'm not from NY & in my state once an offer is accepted, a deposit is put down and no other offeres can be entertained and then if, for some reason, the buyer backs out, the seller can keep their deposit. This seems much more fair than the system in NYC.

Yes a little different here. In NY, the deposit is made only after the contract is signed by both parties. I am just curious if agreeing on an offer, with no signed contract or deposit yet, puts the buyer on the hook for anything.

I don't see how it could b/c essentially it's meaningless.

the deposit is exchanges along with a mutually signed contract -- only then is it binding in nyc. verb al means absolutely nothing. two signatures and a deposit. Done.

exchanged

yep, both the buyers and the sellers have to sign and the buyers check has to be deposited into the escrow account. anything before that is meaningless.

Until the contract is signed by both parties, you got nada; he said, she said. See the 'Unethical?' thread.

Great. Thanks everyone.