No. A seller has no legal duty to respond to an offer in any particular way. A verbal counteroffer could expedite negotiations for the sale of a property in many cases. Of course, once there is an agreement about the terms and conditions of the sale, the parties should promptly reduce the agreement to writing and sign the contract to make it a binding obligation.

A seller could respond to a buyer's offer by using the Seller's Invitation to Buyer to Submit New Offer (TXR 1926). This form would be particularly useful when the seller's proposal contains several changes to the buyer's offer. By using this form, the seller is free to consider other offers without having to be concerned about the withdrawal of a previous, written counteroffer.

No. A verbal agreement must be reduced to writing and signed by the buyer and seller to become valid. Since a contract was never created, nor signed, there is nothing for the buyer to enforce. While verbal negotiations of contracts can be a quicker way to reach an agreement, verbal agreements are not enforceable for the sale of real property.

Yes, Texas REALTORS® has the Notice of Withdrawal of Offer (TXR 1945). Since your client wants to withdraw his offer before the seller has accepted it, a prompt communication of that withdrawal is essential. Call the listing agent and tell her about your client’s decision to withdraw his offer. Follow the telephone call with the TXR 1945 form, a letter, or email confirming your telephone notification of the time and date of your client’s withdrawal of his offer. This kind of written confirmation of the verbal withdrawal of the offer can help document the timeliness of the withdrawal should an issue develop concerning the seller’s possible argument that he had already accepted the offer. It should be noted that this same procedure could be used by a listing agent where the seller wants to withdraw a counteroffer made to a buyer so that the seller can sell the property to another buyer.