contingency offer

OK to take a contingency offer?

by John Rice

Well, I don’t really like to do it. Sure, an offer without that type of contingency is better, but there is a good side to this type of contract. Guess what it is? The buyer will typically pay you more with a contingency to sell or close their old house than a regular buyer will without that contingency.

I see it all the time. A buyer with a house to sell or close gets really nervous about not knowing where they will be living. They are desperate to find a house and will pay top dollar for the mental peace of knowing where they are going to land.

The bummer part is if the deal on their old house falls apart, so does your deal. There is an upside though, and it is the home inspection. If the inspection goes okay on the buyer’s old house, it typically means it will too on your house. Short of some catastrophic issue, a buyer will not walk away from your house. Why? There is not enough time to find another house prior to closing their old house…..and remember, they did all this because they do not want to be homeless once they close on their old house.

What I like about a contingency contract

by John Rice

Well, I don’t really like them, but there is a good side to this type of contract if you are the seller.  Guess what it is? The buyer will typically pay you more with a contingency to sell their house first than they would without it.

I see it all the time. A buyer with a house to sell gets really nervous about not knowing where they will be living once they sell their old home. Now, unless the buyer already has a contract on the house they are selling, I always counter back with a kickout clause.  That basically means that IF the seller would like to sell the house to another buyer who does not have a contingency, they give the contingency buyer a certain amount of time to remove the contingency or back out of the deal. 

Another thing I like is that IF the contingency buyer can and does remove their contingency,  you have a back up buyer. Sometimes it helps when negotiating repairs if the buyer knows there is somebody else wanting the house if the deal falls apart!

I don’t really care for this kind of contract though when I am working with a buyer…..for all the same reasons. When I have a buyer who wants to write a contingency offer, I usually try to get them to just wait until we sell their house first. Here is why I don’t think they are a good idea for the buyer who can’t possibly remove the contingency if needed: Any decent realtor is going to counter back with a kickout clause. That means that if another buyer comes along they will lose the house. If no such buyer comes along, that means that the house would still be there when the buyer’s old house eventually sells, and they could probably strike a better deal at that point.

What to do when you’ve gotta sell your old house first

by John Rice

I feel for people in this situation. I mean, the market is so tough right now. Even buyers who do NOT have to sell their old house before buying their next one are struggling to be competitive in multiple offers.

The odds of you finding a seller who will work with you when they have other offers without a similar contingency are equal to winning the lottery. Hoping for the best isn’t realistic. Here are some not so fun options that will ultimately end up with you getting your next home.

  1. List your house. Sell it. Pack up. Move out. Rent or stay somewhere short term until the house you want hits the market. Then buy it. This gets you where you wanted to be, the only negative is that you will end up moving twice.
  2. List your house. Sell it. Only take offers from buyers who will let you rent back after the closing. Then begin your search and only move once. Most buyers will give you maaaaybe 30-60 days after closing before they will want to be able to move into their new home. This allows you to buy something but you’re under pressure to find and close one within that time period. If you can’t, you’ll have to move out and stay somewhere short term.
  3. Only look at houses that have been on the market for more than about a week. Often these are the less desirable homes since the rush of buyers who saw it when it was a hot new listing decided they didn’t want it. The beauty of this plan is that you only move once and likely are not competing at all with other buyers. This is a good thing. A seller who only has one offer is much more likely to accept a contingency offer than one who has better choices.

So there you go. None of these are exciting. All are a lot of work. But they are real solutions to today’s real estate issues.

What to do when you have to sell your old house first

by John Rice

I’ve got several clients right now that need to sell their old house before they can buy a new one.  It’s not a fun spot to be in during a seller’s market.

You would think when almost all houses sell quickly that a seller would happily accept an offer from somebody who needs to sell their old house first.  But, odds are the seller is getting multiple offers, so why wouldn’t they pick the one without a contingency to sell?

Time to clarify a few things:  A contingency to sell is when you haven’t sold your old house yet and nobody has any idea when you can actually close on the new house.  A contingency to close means your old house has in fact sold, and assuming the buyer of your old house makes it to the finish line, so will you.

When you make an offer contingent on selling your old house, it is pretty standard for a seller to counter back with what is called a kickout clause.  That means that the seller will accept your offer, but they will keep their house on the market and hope to catch a buyer without a contingency.  If they do, then you’ll have a limited amount of time to remove the contingency and buy the house without having to sell your old one, or you agree to walk away and let the seller and their new buyer enter into a sale together.  If it is impossible for you to remove the contingency and buy the house, then you will lose the house to the new buyer.

For this reason, I am telling my buyers who need to sell their old house first to not even look at a house until it has been on the market for a while.  Let’s say you are the first buyer to see a house and you make an offer contingent on selling your old house.  The seller accepts it with a kickout clause.  You are feeling good.  Then the next day, the seller gets an offer without a contingency.  You lose it.  If you think about it……whether you buy it the first day on the market or the 10th day on the market, the end result is the same:  IF another buyer comes around and wants it, you will get kicked out.  IF no buyer comes along, then it will still be there when you make an offer after every other buyer has had a chance to see it.  There really is no urgency to write a contingency offer due to this reason, and waiting a bit prevents a lot of heartache for you.

So what’s the strategy then?

If you can, the best solution to preventing this problem is to sell your old house first.  You will then be able to make an offer without a contingency.  You stand a better chance of getting the house you want.  This will also keep your from having to potentially sell your house for a little less than it is worth to ensure it sells immediately and you don’t loose your new house.  The downside of this is that you are moving twice.

You can pay a premium for the new house.  Sometimes if a seller is getting a few thousand more than the next offer, they might choose not to kick you out.  The downside of this route is that you are paying a premium for the luxury of not having to move twice.  Moving twice costs you more and is more of a hassle, so maybe it is worth it to you.

Either way is painful really.  There is no easy button to push when you have to sell your old house to buy a new one.  Not in such a seller’s market.