Are multiple offers allowed?

[Ausprop]

I mean the offer is written, its still valid, and it was only verbally rejected, so legally are you bound to buy both of them???

no, once an offer is rejected (or countered), that's it

you may want to cover your bases by sending somehting in writing confirming their rejection and that the offer is dead

 

[wylie]

suppose you make 2 written offers, and you get a call from the agent saying, someone else had made a higher offer and hence you didn't get the offer, in the meantime, the other property that you made an offer is acccepted, so all is good,

however, can the agent from the first rejected property call you back and say, congratulations, the higher offer has just pulled out and the vendor accepted yours!

I mean the offer is written, its still valid, and it was only verbally rejected, so legally are you bound to buy both of them???

Once one offer is signed, and therefore a "contract", you would want to definitely let the agent know in writing that you withdraw the other offer.

Whether or not the agent has said it is not accepted, he is still holding a contract with your signature on it. I would not risk that contract also being signed.

 

[Player]

Agree with Wylie. As I posted earlier also, I would personally rescind in writing all offers/contracts you have no further interest in. I would also be clear in nominating time limits (in writing) for the vendor to come back with an answer.

 

[Property Meister]

no worries thanks everyone,

I just thought for a newbie it can legally catch them out,

for a newbie, receiving a call saying that the original offer was rejected and the property has been sold to somebody else makes it pretty clear they didn't get it at all, but technically, if the buyer pulls out for some reason, the agent can legally accept your offer since there is no written evidence

 

[beachside]

I was going to start a new thread but as this oldie is so applicable I thought I just revive it.

MULTIPLE OFFERS ON MULTIPLE PROPERTIES IN QLD.

What is the best way to do this, particularly if they are low ball offers, so as not be bound to more than one property - or any until contract signed by both:

1. Make a written offer with signature (other than on contract) with applicable conditions.
2. Make an offer on a contract with applicable conditions BUT NOT SIGN IT, so that nothing is binding until you countersign on acceptance.

I figure that if making low ball offers you need to show some seriousness so that it is not taken as a joke. Attaching a cheque would confirm seriousness but probably has to be banked which then becomes a pain, so no money put down at this point.

I would also include a clause that the wording of the final offer with my signature on the contract is subject to solicitor approval. (This is because the solicitor may be aware of a problem such as council potentially taking longer than normal settlement period to supply results of a search etc - as I once encountered, so fortunate solicitor was local and aware of issue). This may then require a new contract or vendor to countersign any additional wording as advised by solicitor.

Some of the previous old posts and threads suggest that if your written offer is accepted it is binding, but wouldn't this just be an offer until both parties have signed a contract???? Without any noted expiry of offer is there any need to withdraw offer - just advise no longer interested/bought elsewhere if agent comes back to you to advise vendor will accept/negotiate. (Obviously polite to inform agent if you know they are currently trying to negotiate with vendor, but not if offer is stale or vendor previously declined).

I am thinking that if agents know I am looking at various properties with various agents and potentially making multiple offers they know that they need to get a response back to me asap otherwise they may lose a sale to another vendor/agent, therefore time is more critical than giving a deadline.

So, two issues - best way to make multiple offers in QLD, and is there a need to withdraw offers (on anything other than a contract with your signature).

thanks

 

[marg4000]

MULTIPLE OFFERS ON MULTIPLE PROPERTIES IN QLD.

What is the best way to do this, particularly if they are low ball offers, so as not be bound to more than one property - or any until contract signed by both:

1. Make a written offer with signature (other than on contract) with applicable conditions.
2. Make an offer on a contract with applicable conditions BUT NOT SIGN IT, so that nothing is binding until you countersign on acceptance.

I figure that if making low ball offers you need to show some seriousness so that it is not taken as a joke. Attaching a cheque would confirm seriousness but probably has to be banked which then becomes a pain, so no money put down at this point.

As both an unsigned contract or a written offer (other than on a SIGNED contract) are worthless, it is hard to see how they can "show seriousness".

As a vendor I would ignore both.

In Queensland, the standard procedure is for a contract to be signed by a purchaser THEN presented to the vendor for signature. The payment of a deposit strengthens the contract for the vendor (unless it is an insultingly low amount or the vendor is desperate).

Once the vendor signs the contract is enforceable unless withdrawn under "cooling off" provisions (penalties apply) or failure of a conditional clause (building, finance etc). If the vendor does not agree to the amount, this can be amended then taken back to the purchaser for agreement.

Signing multiple contracts, particularly with separate agents, is a dangerous game, as theoretically each could be signed by the vendors at the same time.
Marg

 

[Perp]

This is an area frequently misunderstood. There is no magic division between "documents that are contracts" and "documents that aren't contracts" - contracts are contracts by nature of the information recorded, not their format, or whether they're called contracts. Bus tickets are contractual documents, for example.

Some contracts, such as those for real property, have formal requirements in order to be deemed an enforceable contract. In the case of land, the legislation requires that contracts for real property be *evidenced in writing*, but that doesn't limit it to standard form contracts. Provided certain information is recorded in writing - such as a description of the land, the price, the buyer and seller, and a few other basic terms - and both parties have signed, it's a binding contract for transfer of land.

So if you make a written offer, it is likely to contain adequate information to create a binding contract if counter-signed by the vendor. Even if it's a letter and the vendor just signs and dates underneath your signature. It's the information, remember, that's important - not the form.

Submitting an unsigned contract with a signed cheque attached is also likely to create a binding contract under the joinder doctrine, whereby documents can be "joined" together to fulfil the formalities requirements. (So the fact that the cheque and the unsigned document are clearly "joined" may mean that your signature on the cheque is as good as a signature on the document, from a legal perspective.)

I think one clear way to avoid finding yourself bound against your will would be to include a statement in your letter of offer that the parties do not intend to be bound until the preparation of a formal agreement, as in Masters v Cameron). I am not a lawyer and would not presume to word such a clause myself, but I would ask for legal advice on an appropriate clause to include in your offer.

Some of the previous old posts and threads suggest that if your written offer is accepted it is binding, but wouldn't this just be an offer until both parties have signed a contract????

No, an accepted offer *is* a contract. (As always in the law, with some exceptions.)

Without any noted expiry of offer is there any need to withdraw offer

Yes, unless you protected yourself with some wording as I alluded to above, that you've had approved by a lawyer. Otherwise, offers are considered available for acceptance until revoked, or lapse of "a reasonable period" - and who wants to fight out in Court what that is?

 

[beachside]

Thanks Perp, extremely interesting and scary but you answered my questions well.

It would seem that a verbal offer is safer (unless recorded ), but on a low ball it is probably not going to be taken seriously unless the agent knows you well enough, and many agents would not pass on verbal low balls anyway.

This throws a spanner in the works for the variety of "letter of offer" documents people have shared in this forum over the years which they have used, particularly the ones to cover multiple offer situations such as I am inquiring about.

Hmmm, is there a lawyer in the house .......for the benefit of everyone who is thinking/has made multiple offers?

thanks

 

[Perp]

It would seem that a verbal offer is safer (unless recorded )

The "unless recorded" is an important proviso - there have been instances where a binding contract was found to exist even in the absence of the signature of one party. I think the situation was that a lawyer had prepared and signed a letter of offer, and the court combined that with other evidence - I think the lawyer's diary notes - to find that the lawyer signed the offer at the direction of their client, and thus that was found to be binding.

These examples are uppermost in my mind as I'm presently a law student. It is worth noting that 99% of the time you will get away with it, because the other party and/or the real estate agent don't realise they've already bound you, or because they don't want the hassle of potentially litigating to enforce the contract - it's easier to just release you and find a willing buyer.

Because most people do get away with it, it makes people a bit casual about letters of offer. It's certainly true that the typical scenario is that both parties remain willing, and proceed to memorialise their agreement on a standard contract which [mostly - again, always exceptions] displaces the letter of offer and any previous verbal and written agreements.

It comes down to how much risk you're willing to take that you'll be one of the rare instances - say, where the vendor is unlikely to be able to sell to another buyer, such as a crash in the housing market or something just after your offer - when the vendor wants to push the issue. It's a valid choice to take that risk, I'm just trying to raise awareness that it isn't without risk.

 

[TMNT]

To be honest, as per typical lawyer talk,

It seems like it'd a grey area

Common sense to me would indicate that a signed document is contract

Ignoring cooling off for arguments sake

What about if you sign a 200k contract accidentally as 2m, and the other party signs,

What about If you send an email withdrawing yourboffer but the agent doesn't get it butbyou have proof you have sent it

What happens if you send it to the agent but spells his email address wrong

What about an offer of time expiry 5pm but buyer signs it at 11pm, BUT you never put the time on an offer so how can it proved that the offer was signed before or after 5pm

Just all nitty picky things that I find interesting from a legal perspective

 

[Perp]

TMNT, I ask those questions *all* the time. Fortunately, there's so much case law that nearly every one of these situations has arisen and been ruled upon.

What about if you sign a 200k contract accidentally as 2m, and the other party signs

Under common law, it may well be a valid contract. If - as would almost always be the case - it was obvious that the 2M should have been 200K, one may be able to make an argument that the person wanting 2M for a 200K asset is trying to be exploitative, and the court may provide an equitable remedy.

What about If you send an email withdrawing yourboffer but the agent doesn't get it butbyou have proof you have sent it

What happens if you send it to the agent but spells his email address wrong

Emails are deemed to have been received when they are "available for collection from the recipient server". So if the agent just hasn't read it, that's the agent's bad luck; you'd validly revoked your offer. If you made a typo in the email address and it bounces, you haven't validly revoked your offer.

What about an offer of time expiry 5pm but buyer signs it at 11pm, BUT you never put the time on an offer so how can it proved that the offer was signed before or after 5pm

If your offer expires at 5pm, they have to communicate their acceptance to you prior to your offer expiring.

I often say that studying caselaw is like the legal equivalent of the Darwin Awards. e.g. Are you trespassing if somebody places your drunken and unconscious body on somebody else's property? (No, but the person who puts you there is guilty of trespass.)

 

[beachside]

I think "intention" probably has some bearing on things if a party tries to push things to the extreme, and what was discussed with agent (as he would be misleading vendors if he portrayed buyer and intention of offer different to what was intended and discussed), but a potential minefield.

I think submitting an offer with a very short time limit on it (say 5pm/9am that day/next day) and avoid having 2 offers open at once would overcome the issue and keep things simple. It is possible agent may not be able to speak with vendor at very short notice but explain that you may still be interested beyond deadline but subject to not buying elsewhere or waiting on response to other offers. Make it clear that the risk/complication of having multiple offers accepted at the same time being the reason for short time limit on offer.

 

[Terry_w]

once the agent communicates acceptance to you (be it verbally or otherwise) then a contract is struck. .

All contracts relating to land can be oral, but they are not enforceable unless they are in writing. Also certain documents need to be included in contracts by law otherwise the purchaser can rescind. So a back of the envelope agreement could be reached but as this doesn't include a s149 certificate (if NSW land) then it could be a valid contract, but the purchaser could rescind up to 14 days after exchange (From memory).

Also in NSW you cannot have a binding and enforceable contract until after exchange - ie you need the contract with the vendor's signature and they need a contract with the purchasers signature.

So with verabl offers you are pretty safe, even if they accept your offer unless you have signed something you could pull out. You could make multiple written offers, but check with a lawyer in each state about this. In NSW your written offer could lock you in if it is a offer in the form of a signed contract. If you are just emailing short messages such as "I will pay $334,000 for this" then this would not lock you in in NSW.

 

[Beau Lyon]

A serious buyer will write their offer on a copy of the contract for the property, with a cheque for a 0.25% deposit attached.
If the vendor accepts the offer, the contracts will be exchanged, and you will have a 5 day cooling off period in which you can pull out and lose the 0.25% deposit.

If you write in an email or letter that you would like to offer such and such an amount, then it is not really an enforceable legal offer until you sign the contract, so you could have multiple offers out at the same time- and the owner will take this into account as well, and may choose a slightly lower offer frm someone that is prepared to sign the contract straight away instead.

 

[beachside]

A serious buyer will write their offer on a copy of the contract for the property, with a cheque for a 0.25% deposit attached.
If the vendor accepts the offer, the contracts will be exchanged, and you will have a 5 day cooling off period in which you can pull out and lose the 0.25% deposit.

I was referring to multiple offers, not the standard single offer.

All contracts relating to land can be oral, but they are not enforceable unless they are in writing. Also certain documents need to be included in contracts by law otherwise the purchaser can rescind. So a back of the envelope agreement could be reached but as this doesn't include a s149 certificate (if NSW land) then it could be a valid contract, but the purchaser could rescind up to 14 days after exchange (From memory).

Also in NSW you cannot have a binding and enforceable contract until after exchange - ie you need the contract with the vendor's signature and they need a contract with the purchasers signature.

So with verabl offers you are pretty safe, even if they accept your offer unless you have signed something you could pull out. You could make multiple written offers, but check with a lawyer in each state about this. In NSW your written offer could lock you in if it is a offer in the form of a signed contract. If you are just emailing short messages such as "I will pay $334,000 for this" then this would not lock you in in NSW.

Thanks Terry. So a written offer with basic conditions the buyer would want included (to give vendor a heads up on what terms other than price needed) other than on a contract in NSW is not enforceable?

I would have thought that the legal implication to submitting written offers other than on a contract would have been common throughout Australia, not state by state? The real estate act in each state I understand as being different, but making offers on other than state based real estate forms would seem to be beyond the real estate act of that state as it is prior to anything formal, merely negotiating. Strange, it's like Europe with each state actually being a different country

 

[TMNT]

Great answers peep, terry,beau

Thank you, great reading

 

[Perp]

I would have thought that the legal implication to submitting written offers other than on a contract would have been common throughout Australia, not state by state? The real estate act in each state I understand as being different, but making offers on other than state based real estate forms would seem to be beyond the real estate act of that state as it is prior to anything formal, merely negotiating.

I think you're still misunderstanding. I don't think it's a requirement that you use the "standard forms" anywhere; it's the content - and sometimes information exchange - that's important. There is no law anywhere in Australia that says "unless you're using the standard form contract you're only negotiating and can't be bound", as far as I know. I'm sure Terry will correct me if I'm mistaken.

There are other formalities in NSW that may prevent you being inadvertently bound to purchase multiple properties in NSW, but my point is that I don't believe that "not using the standard contract form" necessarily keeps you safe anywhere.

 

[Terry_w]

I was referring to multiple offers, not the standard single offer.



Thanks Terry. So a written offer with basic conditions the buyer would want included (to give vendor a heads up on what terms other than price needed) other than on a contract in NSW is not enforceable?

I would have thought that the legal implication to submitting written offers other than on a contract would have been common throughout Australia, not state by state? The real estate act in each state I understand as being different, but making offers on other than state based real estate forms would seem to be beyond the real estate act of that state as it is prior to anything formal, merely negotiating. Strange, it's like Europe with each state actually being a different country

The contract could be legally enforceable, but the purchaser may be able to rescind.

Each state has different laws relating to property and conveyancing and the rules differ sometimes significantly.

 

[Terry_w]

I think you're still misunderstanding. I don't think it's a requirement that you use the "standard forms" anywhere; it's the content - and sometimes information exchange - that's important. There is no law anywhere in Australia that says "unless you're using the standard form contract you're only negotiating and can't be bound", as far as I know. I'm sure Terry will correct me if I'm mistaken.

There are other formalities in NSW that may prevent you being inadvertently bound to purchase multiple properties in NSW, but my point is that I don't believe that "not using the standard contract form" necessarily keeps you safe anywhere.

Yes, there is no requirement to use standard contracts. I have never seena residential contract that is not on the standard contract of sale but I think it is common for commercial contracts to be non standard

NSW standard contract is being updated now and there should be a new one out too - jointly authored by the law society and the REINSW I think.

 

[beachside]

Got it! Its the content and not how the offer is made which could "potentially" be an issue.

However, the topic of my first post was QLD specific and was not to avoid using a standard contract (with or without alterations in any state), but about making multiple offers PRIOR to an agreement and THEN proceeding to exchange as per a normal contract - which would probably be without need for any alteration in QLD.

Thanks Terry and Perp for good info.