What my DW has done in the past is to conditionally accept the offer, with the proviso that if they receive another equal offer without the contingency, the first people must remove it at that time or their offer is void. No P+S agreement is signed until all contingencies are removed.
There is some risk because they are spending money on things like inspections and mortgage applications, and they could wind up losing out. But it’s that or not have any deal because the seller is unwilling to be saddled with contingencies that could delay or derail the sale unless they have no better options.
Our mom’s condo in Chicagoland had been on the market for five months over last winter. We were prepared for mortgage and prior sale contingencies, which of course was the usual kind of offer in that part of the country. Then in March we got an offer: all cash, as-is, short close, close to asking price, no prior sale contingencies. I called it a California offer - then we learned the buyers were from Sierra Madre! They knew how to submit a strong offer…
Yes, we found the Trex in the right color at Dixieline for a crazy high price. Oh well. Inspector was nice and said he could see that I was getting it done. He did notice back roof portion off and i explained the issue of waiting for the tile
When I sold my house, the offer had a prior sale contingency BUT the buyers put down an extremely high non-refundable deposit ($100K) that was released immediately upon acceptance of offer. It was clearly spelled out that they forfeited their deposit if the sale did not go through. The buyers really wanted my house and they were in contract on the house they had to sell, so they were willing to do it. I would have been happy to keep the $100K if the deal had not gone through. But generally I wouldn’t accept an offer with a prior sale contingency. I just mention it here to show there are creative ways to structure the deal to make it less risky.
I would give anything to get $100k upon acceptance of the offer:) i could get out from under some of the heavy debts right now such as credit card interest
I think it’s been several years since DW has had an offer with time-consuming contingencies, the market in eastern MA is pretty hot with very low inventory.
I think the closest was one where the buyers had to sell their house, but their old house was already under contract so it didn’t really Friday the sale at all.
There’s oddball financing where buyer doesn’t have 20% down (which is a huge amount at this price range) or wants the Seller to carry back part of the purchase price as a loan or they have cosignors on loan or something
Oddball contingencies would include:
Long escrow period
Wanting to move in and pay rent before closing escrow. This is one I would never allow because once “moved in” they become tenants and you cannot get rid of them
Contingent on selling their house
Contingent on getting a loan at x% interest rate (which seller cannot manage because you have no idea what their credit is like)
Asking for extra long home inspection period
Asking for furniture to be included
Asking for extra long loan approval period. This usually happens when someone is not preapproved and they are self employed and they need to shop around for a good loan
Asking for special title insurance which bit me in the butt to the tune of $1,000 once
Our contingencies were home inspection, loan approval, 60 day closing and less than 20% down. Different market, I guess!
Wound up doing an 80-10-10 (HELOC). We were pre-qualified and had a low debt ratio. Had to give 60 days’ notice to the apartment complex where we were renting. We were not going to put all of our savings into the down payment. At that point, we had just finished paying off DH’s student loans and were in the last few months of big day care expenses.
I hope the Tesla owners get the offer and financing. I think two Teslas would look great parked side by side in that garage. I like the Tesla better than the Jag.
I agree, Thumper. The Tesla couple LOVE the house and yard and were so excited they came back a second time during the day and then again at sunset. They would give that house the love it deserves.
Then there’s the 220V outlet in the garage that’s just crying to fire up a Tesla.
We bought our current house even though it had a previous accepted offer with a contingency. It was listed as “pending, continue to show” and after we made an offer the original people had 3 days or something to drop their contingency. They chose not to and we got the house. It had been on the market about 6 months and a previous offer had fallen through so I think the owner was losing patience.
Interestingly, the other people who wanted the house were from CA and the contingency was selling their own house which they got an offer for the next day! Strange things happen…
Someone offered exactly the same kind of prior sale contingency that greenwitch described on our mom’s condo. Our agent recommended against it since that “pending” notification could scare off potential buyers.
“Contingent on selling their house” - Around here that is a fairly common contingency request (sometimes accepted, if the market is not hot). The most common one of course is home inspection.
Here, contingent on another house sale homes are listed as active with a small note “contingent.” Anything with a loan or inspection contingency is “pending.”
Contingent on selling their home is not common in San Diego and buyers are advised to sell their house first before shopping. Most contingent offers are not accepted because Sellers are hesitant since the recession period.
How do you know whether their house is in good condition and ready for sale? How do you know that they are reasonable with their asking price? Too many unknowns