Buying and selling rules. Has to be said.

[AJ_77]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract :

Contrary to common wisdom, an informal exchange of promises can still be binding and legally as valid as a written contract. A spoken contract is often called an "oral contract", not a "verbal contract." Any contract that uses words, spoken or written, is a verbal contract. Thus, all oral contracts and written contracts are verbal contracts. This is in contrast to a "non-verbal, non-oral contract," also known as "a contract implied by the acts of the parties."

and, from Samuel Goldwyn:

"A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."

fwiw, I've had sellers back out of deals, too. - not that I'm an angel...