Contingent offers (buyers agent, closing, sellers, house)

[jimj]

How are contingencies handled in TN? Does it put the buyer in less of a bargaining postition there?
The reason I ask is here most agents here are hesitant/unwilling to do an offer based on the buyers home selling first, they are almost never done here because the agents say you can't offer below asking price so the buyers agents discourage the practice. This is the first market I've been in where this is an issue. We are waiting for our house to sell and if we find what we want there it would be nice to be in the position to "lock it in" as it were instead of waiting until we have a month to go before closing and runing around trying to make a good buy.
We have a couple that is interested in our house but has to sell theirs first and had a closing date on theirs last week only to find out the buyers finance company went belly up so they are scrambling to fix it. I told my agent to talk to their agent and tell them I'm open to a contingent offer and will not hold it against them on 2 conditions, 1. It stays on the market 2.If a cash offer comes in they have the first right of refusal. I think that is fair....

[palmcoasting]

It *can* put the buyer in less of a bargaining position anywhere. Sellers often don't want to accept them. But. That is the seller's decision, not the agent's and any offer you want to make should be presented. And that includes a less than asking price with a contingency offer. Your agents job is to present the offer in the best light possible. If the agent is hesitant to present such an offer on your behalf, find another one.