9 Things That Kill a Bergen County Deal During Attorney Review

SECTION 1: BODY CONTENT (paste into the Luxury Presence content area)

Bottom line: In New Jersey, a signed contract is not binding until the three business day attorney review period ends. Either side's attorney can cancel it for any reason at all during that window, with no penalty. More Bergen and Hudson County deals fall apart in those three days than in the inspection, and almost nobody prepares for it.

Written by Scott Selleck, Broker / Sales Associate with The Selleck Group at KW City Views Realty. Licensed in New Jersey since 1993, over 500 transactions closed, e-PRO and SRES certified, serving Bergen and Hudson County.

Last updated: September 2026

Here is the thing that surprises people who have bought or sold in another state. In New Jersey, the moment both parties sign, you do not have a deal. You have a contract that either attorney can kill, for any reason or no reason, inside three business days.

Most sellers find this out the hard way. The offer comes in, everyone celebrates, the sign goes up, and then on day two the phone rings and the buyer is out. No inspection, no appraisal, no financing problem. Just gone.

I have watched this happen since I was licensed in 1993 and the causes repeat. Below are the nine I see most, and what you can do about each one before it happens rather than after.

For the rest of the county, the New Jersey neighborhoods hub has the town-by-town view.

What is attorney review in New Jersey, and how long does it actually last?

Three business days from the delivery of the fully signed contract to both attorneys. Business days, which means weekends and holidays do not count, so a contract signed Thursday afternoon can run into the following Wednesday.

During that window either attorney may cancel or propose changes, and the contract does not become binding until review ends or both attorneys agree it is concluded. Attorneys can also extend it by agreement, and in practice they often do, which means your three days can quietly become ten.

The period is designed to protect both parties. It also creates the single largest window of pure uncertainty in a New Jersey transaction, and how your agent behaves inside it decides a lot.

Why does a buyer walk away during attorney review with no reason given?

Because they can, and because in most cases something changed outside your deal.

The reason almost never appears in writing. What actually happened is usually one of three things: the buyer saw another property that weekend and liked it more, a family member told them they overpaid, or the reality of the number set in overnight. None of that is about your house.

What you can control is the gap. Buyer remorse needs time and silence to grow. A deal where both attorneys are moving, documents are flowing, and the buyer's agent is reporting progress every day is a deal where there is no room for it. A deal that goes quiet for three days is a deal inviting it.

How does a second offer arriving during review blow up the first one?

This one runs in both directions and it is the most common failure I see.

If your listing is still visible and a stronger offer arrives during review, your attorney can cancel and take it. That is legal and sometimes correct. It also poisons the well if it is done badly, because the first buyer's agent will remember, and in Bergen County the same forty agents work the same towns for decades.

The reverse hurts more. Your buyer is under contract with you and still shopping. Their agent shows them something Saturday, they like it, and their attorney cancels Monday. You lost three days of market time and your listing now goes back on with a days-on-market count that buyers read as a problem.

The protection is knowing where your buyer actually is. Ask whether they are still looking. A buyer who has stopped looking is a buyer who is not going anywhere.

Can an attorney rewrite the terms we already agreed to?

Yes, and this is where money moves quietly.

A review letter routinely proposes changes to the closing date, the deposit schedule, what stays with the house, who pays for what municipal certificate, how the inspection contingency is worded, and whether the deposit sits in the buyer's attorney's trust account or the listing brokerage's. Any one of those can be worth thousands. Broadened inspection language can be worth far more, because it reopens the price conversation two weeks later.

Read every proposed change against what you actually negotiated, not against what sounds reasonable in isolation. If a term you fought for in the offer is missing from the review letter, that was not an oversight.

What happens when the two attorneys do not get along?

The deal slows, and slow deals die.

New Jersey real estate attorneys are a small community and most of them work together constantly and well. Occasionally you draw two who do not, or you draw one who is genuinely swamped, and the review letters start arriving late and reading sharper than the situation requires.

Your agent's job here is to be the adult in the room. Not to practice law, which they cannot do, but to keep both offices talking, to translate between the parties when a letter reads harsher than it was meant, and to escalate when something has sat for two days without a response.

Ask an agent how they handle it when an attorney goes quiet. If they do not have an answer, they have never been the one pushing.

Why does a deposit problem end a deal in week one?

Because the deposit is the first test of whether the buyer is real, and a missed deposit deadline tells you something.

The contract names a dollar amount and a deadline, usually a few days after review concludes. A buyer who cannot produce it on time is a buyer with a problem they have not told you about yet, and it is better to learn that on day four than on day forty.

Watch the deposit date the way you watch the closing date. On any deal where the deposit slips more than once, start preparing for the possibility that it does not close.

How does an unpermitted renovation surface during attorney review?

Usually through the buyer's attorney asking one routine question about the certificate of occupancy, and the answer not being clean.

Finished basements, converted attics, decks, bathroom additions and central air are the usual culprits in Bergen County housing stock. If the work was done without a permit, the municipality may require you to open it up, get it inspected, and correct it before it will issue a certificate. That process takes weeks, not days, and it lands entirely on the seller.

This is the most preventable item on this list. Pull your property's permit history before you list, not after you are under contract. I wrote about how that works in certificate of occupancy and unpermitted work, what Bergen County sellers need to know.

What if the property has a tenant in it?

Then attorney review is where the possession fight happens, and it is not a small one.

The buyer's attorney will want language guaranteeing the unit is delivered vacant at closing, or clear language about the lease surviving the sale. A tenant with a lease running past the closing date cannot simply be removed because you sold the building, and a promise you cannot keep is a promise that becomes a lawsuit.

Handle this before you sign anything, not during review. Selling tenant-occupied property in Bergen and Hudson covers the practical side, and what happens when your tenant does not move out at closing covers the version where it goes wrong.

What if something is already known about the property?

Disclose it before review, every time.

New Jersey sellers complete a property condition disclosure, and the instinct on a known issue is to stay quiet and hope. That instinct is expensive. An issue that surfaces during attorney review, when the buyer's attorney is already looking for reasons to be careful, reads as concealment even when it was not. The same issue disclosed in the listing reads as a seller who is straightforward, and it gets priced in rather than used as leverage.

Oil tanks are the Bergen County version of this. I wrote about why the Leonia oil tank problem is a pre-listing decision rather than an inspection surprise, and the logic applies to anything you already know.

What should actually be happening during those three days?

Work, visibly, on both sides.

Here is what a well-run review looks like. Both attorneys have the contract within hours of signature rather than the next morning. The deposit is scheduled. The title order is opened. The municipal certificate applications are started rather than waiting for review to conclude. The buyer's lender has the contract and the appraisal is ordered. Your agent talks to the buyer's agent every day and reports back to you whether anything moved.

The alternative is three days of silence, and silence is what buyer remorse needs.

What a Well-Run Attorney Review Looks Like

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is attorney review in New Jersey?

Three business days from delivery of the fully signed contract to both attorneys. Weekends and holidays do not count, so a Thursday signature can run into the following Wednesday. Either attorney may cancel or propose changes during that window, and the contract is not binding until review ends. Attorneys can extend the period by mutual agreement, which happens often.

Can a buyer back out during attorney review in NJ?

Yes. During attorney review either party's attorney can cancel the contract for any reason or for no stated reason, with no penalty and no loss of deposit. This is the single largest window of uncertainty in a New Jersey transaction, and it is why the days immediately after signing matter more than most sellers realize.

Can a seller accept a better offer during attorney review?

Legally yes, since the contract is not binding until review concludes, and a seller's attorney can cancel and accept a stronger offer. Whether it is wise is a separate question, because the local agent community is small and the decision is remembered. Discuss it with your attorney before acting, since the answer depends on your contract and your circumstances.

What can I do to keep a deal alive during attorney review?

Keep the transaction visibly moving. Get the contract to both attorneys the same day, open title, start the municipal certificate applications rather than waiting, confirm the buyer has contacted their lender, and have your agent speak to the buyer's agent daily. Buyer remorse needs quiet to grow, so a deal where documents are flowing every day gives it nowhere to take hold.

Do I need a real estate attorney to sell a home in New Jersey?

New Jersey practice is built around attorney review, and effectively every residential transaction here involves attorneys on both sides. An agent cannot give legal advice or draft contract terms. Retain a New Jersey real estate attorney before you sign anything, and choose one who closes in your county regularly.

Why Bergen and Hudson County Sellers Work With Scott Selleck

Scott Selleck has been licensed in New Jersey since 1993 and has advised Bergen County and Hudson County homeowners ever since. He is a Broker / Sales Associate and the founder of The Selleck Group at KW City Views Realty in Fort Lee.

Credentials: Broker / Sales Associate, New Jersey License #9236275. e-PRO. SRES, Seniors Real Estate Specialist. Certified AI Real Estate Agent, Krem Institute of Artificial Intelligence, 2025, a private training program and not a REALTOR designation.

Recognition: NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Sales Award®: Platinum 2021 and 2022, Gold 2015, 2017, 2019, 2024 and 2025, Silver 2018. The Selleck Group was named a Top 5 Producing Team of 2025 at Keller Williams City Views Realty.

Track record: More than 500 transactions closed across Bergen and Hudson County. See what clients say.

Why this post exists. Attorney review is the part of a New Jersey sale that nobody explains until it is already going wrong. It is not glamorous and it does not make a good photograph, which is probably why almost nobody writes about it. It is also where I have watched more deals die than in inspection and appraisal combined. If you understand what should be happening in those three days, you can tell within twenty-four hours whether your transaction is being run properly.

If you want to know where your home stands before any of this starts, the home valuation page is the place to begin. Related reading: what happens when a Bergen County home inspection turns up problems covers the next hurdle after this one.

I am a licensed real estate agent, not an attorney. Nothing here is legal advice. Every contract is different and your attorney is the one who advises you on yours.

For the statewide view of how New Jersey agents are licensed and regulated, New Jersey REALTORS® is the association of record.

Scott Selleck's Equal Housing Opportunity policy

Which of these nine has happened to you?

If you have sold in New Jersey before, one of these is familiar and it probably still bothers you. Tell me which one in the comments.

If you are about to list, the seller readiness quiz is 7 questions and takes about 90 seconds, and it will tell you which parts of your sale need attention first.

When you want to walk through your specific situation, schedule 15 minutes.

Scott Selleck The Selleck Group, KW City Views Realty 2200 Fletcher Avenue, Suite 502, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Cell: (201) 970-3960 Office: (201) 592-8900 Email: [email protected] Website: SelleckSellsNJ.com Schedule a consultation: https://tidycal.com/slselleck Delphi AI Assistant: https://www.delphi.ai/scottselleck

Keller Williams City Views Realty. Each office is independently owned and operated. Broker compensation in New Jersey is fully negotiable and is not set by law or by any board or association of REALTORS®.

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Title (H1): 9 Things That Kill a Bergen County Deal During Attorney Review

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Meta Description (155 characters): In New Jersey a signed contract is not binding for three business days. Nine reasons Bergen County deals die in that window, and how to prevent each one.

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