"Highest and Best Offer" bid solicitation - we WON, but week later LOSER bids again!

[Zigner]

So if at the end of the day, you end up purchasing something: it's impossible for fraud to have been committed? I've never heard that line of thought before...

I suppose we can jump to hypothetical conclusions. In YOUR case, no fraud was committed.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Again: if instead of another offer, over that weekend a meteor had landed on the property and left nothing but a crater, would *you* think that you were still obligated to the terms of the unsigned contract? I'm pretty sure that if the seller tried to maintain the offer as binding at that point, you would complain that nothing was signed.

Again: "Highest and Best offer" contains "and Best". A seller might think a particular offer is better for any number of reasons. Some of those reasons might appear objective to a potential buyer.

 

[justalayman]

Again, THANKS to all for your honest feedback! However, I'm betting there are still some other forum folks who might see another possible direction here...

I got to this point and figured I would refute your statement.

You submitted a counter offer thereby terminating your original offer. Your counter offer was never accepted so the seller was free to accept any offer they chose to accept at that point.

when our attorney sent a letter of introduction (to seller's attorney), approving the contract with a few (standard) minor changes

If you had stuck with the original offer you would have an arguable point. You shot yourself in the foot by withdrawing your original offer (where the seller obviously accepted your withdrawal by entertaining your counter offer).


Btw, a highest and best offer has two requirements. It must be the highest and best offer. A lower dollar bid could The the highest and best offer if the terms were more acceptable than a higher dollar offfer. In other words, it allows the seller to accept any offer they choose using the “and best” requirement of the offer to sell.