Seller’s request for more money voids buyer’s full-price offer

When a home seller makes a written counteroffer asking for more money, the buyer is no longer on the hook to purchase the property at any price.

Q. We recently made a full-price offer on a home. The sellers then made a written counteroffer to sell it to us if we paid them $4,000 more than their original listing price.

Aren’t the sellers legally obligated to sell it to us for the lower amount because it matched their original asking price? Also, if we refuse to pay the extra $4,000, can the sellers come back and demand that we buy the house for the price we originally offered?

A. No, the sellers don’t have to sell the home to you, even though you first offered to meet their initial asking price. But neither will you be legally obligated to buy the property, even if they later abandon their demand for an extra $4,000 and try to hold you to the original full-price offer that you made.

Sellers are under no obligation to accept an offer, full-price or not. Prospective buyers like you generally have no legal recourse if an offer is rejected, unless the sellers also sign a written sales contract or similar document.

You are not legally required to buy the house now, even if the sellers decide that they will accept your original offer. That’s because real estate laws in all 50 states say that a seller who makes a written counteroffer automatically renders the buyer’s original offer null and void. It’s as if the buyer never made an offer on the home in the first place.

Of course, you can agree to pay the extra $4,000 that the sellers now want if you really love the house or the neighborhood.

But be wary. Sellers who offer a property at one price and then try to raise it when their initial target is met are often very difficult to deal with when the closing process begins. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to wring even more concessions out of you, such as refusing to make any needed repairs or by insisting that you pay an inordinate portion of the closing costs.

Frankly, I believe greed may have gotten the better of the sellers. Home sales are slowing, and price increases are moderating in many parts of the nation.

Receiving a full-price offer today and closing a deal quickly seems like a much better idea than trying to squeeze an extra few thousand bucks out of a buyer and risking having to put the property back on the market for weeks or even months if the buyers decline.

Ironically, if you decide not to purchase the house, the sellers may still owe their real estate agent a commission because the agent was able to find someone like you who was “willing and able” to close a deal at a fullprice offer.

Your letter doesn’t state how much you were offering to pay for the house. But even if it is only $100,000 — far below the national average — a typical 6 percent sales commission would cost the sellers $6,000 and easily offset the $4,000 that they want to squeeze out of you.

REAL ESTATE TRIVIA There are about 127 million homes in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. That figure includes single-family houses, condos, townhomes and apartments that provide permanent shelter for residents, but doesn’t include the growing number of temporary housing facilities or “tent cities” that cover about 500,000 Americans each night.

Q. I am a widower. If I sell my house to purchase a smaller one in January, would I be able to list the $1,817 I will begin collecting in Social Security benefits next year as “income” on my mortgage application to improve my chances of getting a loan?

A. Sure. Your monthly Social Security check obviously would be arriving on a regular basis and is guaranteed by the federal government, so a lender would be more than happy to consider the stipend when reviewing an application for a mortgage.

Of course, the bank would also take into account any money you may make from a job you might hold or a small business you may own. Just remember that the Social Security Administration itself will withhold some of your benefit each month if you are younger than full retirement age when you begin collecting and if your earnings exceed a certain level.

In 2019, the earnings limit will be $17,640. If you earn more than that, the government will temporarily withhold $1 from your monthly benefit for every $2 you earn over the earnings cap. You would get the withheld cash back, in the form of higher monthly benefits, when you eventually reach your full retirement age.

Conversely, if you will already be at full retirement age — it’s based on the date that you were born — when you begin collecting Social Security, you can work as much as you like, and your benefits won’t be reduced.

Send questions to David Myers, P.O. Box 4405, Culver City, CA 90231-2960; and we’ll try to respond in a future column.