Homepath withdrew their counter offer?

[Brian Eddings]

Looking for some advice. I recently made an offer on a Fannie Mae property listed on homepath.com. The property was listed for 59k. I offered 43k and they countered at 55k. I then offered 46k and they countered at 42,500. Yes, they countered 3,500 under what I offered them. The listing agent called my agent and told us what had happened and we obviously accepted the offer immediately. We then heard nothing from them for a day followed by them retracting their counter offer. I was always under the impression that once an offer was accepted that was a binding contract, however I don't have a law degree so I figured I would see if anyone out there could offer any insight on this. I do realize it was a mistake on their part however, if it was our side that made a mistake I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate taking the earnest money which was 10k in this case. Thanks for any advice you might have. 

[Wayne Brooks]

It's not really a "counter offer" from Fannie....they're telling you the minimum amount you need to offer for them to accept.  In any event, verbal offers/emails between agents mean nothing, it's not binding til you have contracts, and their addendum, executed by both parties.