Contingency in a real estate transaction is when the buyer submits an offer that is subject to something else. It’s like quid pro quo, “I’ll buy your house if …” Usually that ‘if” is selling the buyer’s current house.

A common scenario is when the buyer has equity in their current house and needs to use that equity to secure the loan on the new house. In order to get the loan and buy the new house, they have to sell the old house first.

In a sellers market like we’re in now, if you’re a buyer and you submit an offer that’s contingent on selling your old house, it DOES NOT make your offer very attractive at all. It doesn’t matter how far over the list price your willing to spend.

That seller wants to close quickly. They don’t want to wait an extra 30 or 60 days while try to you sell your old house.

What happens if can’t sell the house? Well, if the seller accepted the contingency, the buyer can walk away without penalty. That seller though, has just lost two or three months and now has to put the house back on the market and try to find a new buyer.

No matter whether you’re the buyer or the seller, I have strategies that can help you regardless what your actual situation is. Let’s talk about it and I’ll show you what I mean. I promise you. I’ll tell you like it is and get you what you want.