A friend of mine is currently going through a situation I find interesting and cannot quite get my mind around. Both them and the buyers of their house came to an agreement on a price and both signed the P&S. After the appraisal was done through the buyers the home was valued slightly belowed the agreed price and the buyers attempted to renegotiate. A new agreement could not be reached and so 3 or 4 days before the contractual deadline, after which the buyers would apparently be forced to forefit deposit, they signed and faxed the paperwork necessary to withdraw their offer to the sellers' agent. As it was a weekend the agent did not immediately bring said paperwork to the sellers for their signature indicating that it did not matter. About 2 hours before the paperwork was to be signed by the sellers their agent called and explained to them that the potential buyers had changed their minds about stepping away and that they wished for a new appraisal to be done. As such they were requesting an extension to the current deadline in order to have such an appraisal redone. The sellers were, by this point, upset with the situation and as such simply signed the papers believing that they were just going to keep the house for the time being or attempt to find new buyers. About 45 minutes after signing the papers that were supposed to officially end the talks between the two parties, the sellers' agent called and informed them that, having talked to the legal representative, they were OBLIGATED to grant an extension to the potential buyers. So, after this drawn out explanation my question is this: 1, is it even true that the buyers are legal obligated to grant an extension and 2, if so what exactly is the purpose of a contractually agreed on deadline? Please any help would be greatly appreciated as the sellers are very dear friends of mine. Thank you.