Question:
“My wife and I want to buy a house. We don’t want to list our condo unless we have a house to buy. So we’ll have to buy contingent on selling our condo. How do homesellers look at contingent offers?”
Answer:
A bit cross-eyed.
Homesellers do not love contingent offers because they must wait for your home to sell, and your home sale is a situation mostly out of their control.
If they do consider your offer, they’ll likely insist on a “72-hour clause.” Simply put, it means they keep trying to find a buyer, and if they find a buyer for their home before you find one for your condo, you lose the race, and the house.
Things are more promising if your home is already in escrow when you make a contingent offer. And the further along the escrow is, the better. If your buyer has okayed their inspections and – even better – has loan approval, your offer has a much better shot.
You actually have several other options, but I don’t want write a short novel explaining them here.
Better that you call me at (858)457-KENT and we can talk, and I’ll share the options that are best for your situation…
