A seller is under contract to sell his property. The Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer is attached to the contract. A second buyer makes an offer. Should the Addendum for Back-Up Contract be used when negotiating the second offer?
Yes. In this situation, the second offer, once accepted, can be a back-up contract only. According to Paragraph B of the Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer, the seller may not compel the first buyer to waive the contingency or terminate the contract under the addendum until the seller accepts a written offer to sell the property.
The seller may not accept a second offer unless the back-up addendum is part of the second offer. Otherwise, the seller may be obligated to sell to two different buyers, especially if the first buyer waives the contingency.
Does the seller have to show the first buyer that he received a “written” back up offer or can he just say so without any proof? In our case, we were told the seller had a back-up offer then he immediately listed that house back for sale and raised the price another 65K.