"In-Contract" Duration

When you sign a contract, you put a date in for when you plan to close. Either party can then push out the closing for a month. If you don't close in that time frame, you go into default.

A typical co-op or condo can be in contract for a couple of months. But if there are other circumstances, it could be quite a while. (For example: The seller is relocating and needs to locate another apartment before he can move. The buyer may allow the closing to occur whenever the seller can locate and pick the other apartment).

(Matthew Russell - Brown Harris Stevens)

What if it is in a new development? I.e. a buyer puts in a deposit but seeing that units aren't moving, has second thoughts. The developer, needing the "in contract" status of the unit to account as part of the "50%" sold status for financing to be possible, keeps the unit "in contract" indefinitely. Then as the reality of the situation sets in, the developer starts cutting prices on units, including price cuts on units listed as "in contract". I guess then, the buyer can have third thoughts and buy the unit at that price or a new buyer is told the unit is not in contract after all and can buy the unit.

Not sure if the original buyer's deposit still applies though? Matthew?