If a fire destroys a seller's house listed for $575,000, is the offer still valid?

The correct response indicates that the offer is no longer valid because the house, which was the subject of the offer, has been destroyed. In contract law, for an offer to remain valid, the subject matter of the contract must exist at the time of acceptance. When a house is destroyed by fire, it effectively means that the property being sold is no longer available for sale. This results in a clear impossibility to fulfill the contract as originally intended, thus nullifying the original offer.

Although it's possible for the seller to negotiate a new offer or price after a loss, the key point in this instance is that the destruction of the house results in the automatic termination of the existing offer. Therefore, an offer cannot be legally accepted if the fundamental property that was being sold is no longer in existence.