Is it legal to have multiple contracts on a home?

The house we found that we loved ended up having multiple contracts on it They basically told us, "Well, offer us more money and get your paperwork in first and the house is yours." As if I really need to do that in this market BITE ME. Just curious if it's legal, though, to have multiple contracts at one time.

Re: Is it legal to have multiple contracts on a home?

its not possible to have multiple contracts, but its possible to have multiple binders/offers.

from what you're saying, it sounds as though the house has multiple offers and the first person to sign the contracts is the one that "wins". it happens alot actually...not so much these days but i saw it alot when the market was up.

Message edited 1/26/2008 9:16:42 AM.

Re: Is it legal to have multiple contracts on a home?

Does it make a difference that it was a short sale? The bank told my RE that there were multiple contracts, not binders or offers. They, of course, could be lying, I guess.

Re: Is it legal to have multiple contracts on a home?

not too sure. short sales have alot of rules/regulations from the bank. the bank is the one who accepts the offers and decides which offer they go with. its seems unethical to have multiple contracts.

Message edited 10/7/2009 10:53:13 AM.

Re: Is it legal to have multiple contracts on a home?

If they said multiple contracts they probably do have a few out there. In a short sale (I don't know too much about them) my thought would be that the purcahser before handing over the signed contracts woudl want to see a title report to ensure that the house doesn't have any major problems that would prevent them from obtaining a mortgage (no certificate of occupancies) and it is possible that they have 2 or 3 contracts out to potential buyers and whoever decides to sign the contracts first and send them to the bank will get the house. It happens alot. It is simply an offer to sell the home when the purchaser receives the contract it isn't binding until the purchaser receives signed contracts back from the seller.