Eileen, Fantastic idea for a party!!! You've inspired me to have one of my own. Plus I will actually get to enjoy the party instead of "making sure everyone else is getting what THEY need!".. I'm a big soup maker so it's hard to pare this down. I won't put them in order since it's all a tie but... Pasta E Fagioli Chicken corn chowder split pea w/ ham tortilla soup Maybe we'll all get some good soup recipes we DON'T have out of this thread. Yeah for fall weather!! Have a fantastic party. Question: Do you make any of your soups in advance and in what order, if you did, would you make them? You've got my mind thinking now :)

When I first saw all the other gorgeous entries I felt a little like my green caterpillar surrounded by all the beautiful butterflies! I love all the interpretations and everyone did an amazing job! I'm so honored just to be in this group and thank you Marti for coming up with such a fun idea that really brought out a lot of creativity and individuality from everyone. And THANKS to all who voted for me! Your support and kind words mean so much! --Amy

We're in contract The difference in NYC (over other places) is that the contract comes SO late. All the negotiating (cut in price to compensate for inspection issues, etc.) is done BEFORE the deal is enforceable. In other areas, those things are done to modify the original contract. But in other states, there is still a little bit of time where the circumstance you describe could happen. Verbal communication saying that "the contract will be signed," and then the signer changes his mind. i've seen many posts here about people who say, "we submitted our bid, and we heard they're accepting, but we don't have the signed contract yet." Often that could happen over the weekend even in another jurisdiction! The agent looks at the offers on Saturday, talks w/ the owners, notifies the buyers of the end result (not price, but yea/nay)--but the sellers aren't in the office to put their signature on the paper. So one of the buyers comes back w/ a lot more money early on Monday morning, and the sellers get told about it when they come in to sign the other contract. Not being idiots, they take the new offer. Sorry and all that, but this is business. And it's not like the disappointed seller has lost that much--it was just the WEEKEND. What, 48 hours at most, and one of them was a Sunday? She didn't pay for an inspection. She didn't pass up lots and lots of other homes because she thought she had this one. There weren't any *real* damages in the legal or financial sense. The process of buying an apartment (and don't say "for an apartment?" christopherh. They are the ONLY HOMES YOU CAN BUY in many neighborhoods of the city; we do not HAVE single family homes in many of our neighborhoods. Or if we do, they are three times the price of an apartment, or more--my apartment in such a neighborhood is supposedly worth $450k; a 3BR is worth $575k, and we're considered "affordable"), esp. in NYC where it is likely to be a co-op instead of a condo, is three months minimum, and usually at least a month between offer and signed contract. So the seller is disappointed, but she is not actually OUT anything. She was not at all damaged, except emotionally. As for damages, if a true contract is breached-- If you sue the seller for "specific performance," you can win. As long as there's not some contingency they can use to squeak out of it (and most contingencies are for the BUYER, not for the seller). You could perhaps use that threat to negotiate letting them out of the contract. You could say, "we will not sue you, if you will pay us the equivalent of OUR deposit, to compensate us for the time we lost trying to buy your house." *maybe* just *maybe* a judge wouldn't find in your favor, but I highly doubt it. If they didn't, you could prove damages in terms of the market going up, your inspection money, and the time you lost. HOWEVER, as you noted, in many instances, if a buyer has to back out bcs of an unpreventable disasters, a seller will refund the deposit out of a sense of karma. and likewise, buyers who see that the seller has had a disaster, will often agree to dissolve the contract out that same sense of karma. They may ask for the reimbursement of true monetary losses.

Wow, I just voted again and was very happy to see that our Silvers now have 284 votes! And what's that??? What did you say??? Those dirty Lynx have ONLY 204??? Oh my Goodness...those poor, poor Lynx...left in the dust! sooey