Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My house on sale for 3 days and got a contingent offer with:
- Full asking price
- 1 mo to close (theirs will close one day before us)
- but the buyer agent put a clause on "subject to" selling of their current condo. She said it is different than "contingent"
- Their condo is in pending and their agent said inspection was just done and passed (verbally as I have not seen their signed paper)
My house is in Bellevue and their condo is literally 5min away also in Bellevue. I told my agent that I was concerned about their risk of closing which could be 1 mo waste for us to pull off the market. After a round of negotiation, they only agree to do a couple thousands of dollars earnest money to be non-refundable ONLY after inspection. My thought at that time is that if they are so confident about closing their condo, it would be "fair" to ask non-refundable of the earnest amount they received from their buyer. It was just my way of evaluating their risk, which could transfer to my risk. It is not the earnest money I am fighting for but I just wanted to gauge their confidence.
In the end, we decided not to take on that offer. It has been two weeks and so far I have not received any other offer. I heard people said the first offer is the best offer. But given the hot market in Bellevue, no offer after 2 weeks is a bit "odd" IMHO. We got no fewer than 30-40 views so far.
Did I shoot myself in the foot?
Few people told us it is too early to tell since it's just a couple weeks on market.
I am not clear why you would be concerned about a 'subject to' clause? Most people I know who have bought a home have this in their contract. They don't want to be held to a sale if their house doesn't sell.
We had that happen to us, put it back on the market and quickly sold. However, I haven't heard of any of my friends over the years ever have it happen.
the general price range of their condo and your home would be helpful.
their agent cannot tell you the earnest money and purchase price of their contract to sell.
how long was your inspection period going to be with them? And how does that work in your market: inspect but no repair (they proceed or terminate); repair negotiations; you agree to repair all items?
the whole subject to/contingent/MLS status ... only someone in the Bellevue WA MLS can answer that part.
the whole subject to/contingent/MLS status ... only someone in the Bellevue WA MLS can answer that part.
Our WA contracts make a distinction if the buyer's house is: (1)-Not on the market, or on the market but not yet under contract, or (2)-Under contract.
Contracts written when buyer's house is in the situations in (1) potentially can be bumped by another offer. There's a process for this.
Once the buyer's home is under contract (2), they cannot be bumped by another offer.
Going under contract satisfies the Home Sale Contingency.
how long was your inspection period going to be with them? And how does that work in your market: inspect but no repair (they proceed or terminate); repair negotiations; you agree to repair all items?
In our market, 10 days is the most common period, and Inspection related requests are negotiable.
Forget about the first buyer who offered, its over and done with. Take a breath relax and just move forward. 2 weeks is nothing at this point, most people start buying in April, May or June so they can wait till the kids are out of school to move. Trying to get the first buyer back will make you look desperate and they will want concessions.
Forget about the first buyer who offered, its over and done with. Take a breath relax and just move forward. 2 weeks is nothing at this point, most people start buying in April, May or June so they can wait till the kids are out of school to move. Trying to get the first buyer back will make you look desperate and they will want concessions.
It's very likely that the buyer has moved on, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
As to the OP, many people who wish to move need to sell their own house in order to buy another house. It's a common occurrence so many Sellers are faced with the same decision. While nothing is a sure thing, putting yourself in the Buyer's shoes may help in evaluating the situation. How would you structure your offer if you needed to sell a house in order to buy?
Contingencies are a fact of life. We can only try to reduce the risks involved as best we can by checking the status of their sale (hopefully it's pending with a scheduled closing date) and by including terms that tend to assure that a sale will go through. (Most people don't want to forfeit a significant deposit.) I recently sold a personal residence under the same circumstances so I understand the dilemma that you faced in making your decision. Best of luck in dealing with the next offer that you receive.
To the OP's defense, this offer came within a couple days of coming on the market. I assume that if the offer came after 2 weeks with no other offers having been received yet, the reaction of their agent would have been very different.
Taking homes contingent on the close of escrow of another home is very common. In fact, it has to be this way otherwise real estate would come to a standstill. If everyone had to sell their home first, move, then make offers on other homes, it would be a nightmare or all of home owner equity would go to Wallstreet/large corporations and iBuyer programs.
Once a home is past inspections and gearing up for the appraisal and final underwriting, things are generally good to go. Why didn't your agent ask about the buyer of the Bellvue home? I can see having a concern if the domino extended farther, but if the buyer wasn't a contingent on a home sale buyer, those offers are generally solid.
I don't accept offers contingent upon my buyer's house closing escrow. It's too easy to fall out of escrow and maybe their closing is contingent upon their own buyer's house closing. You can get a whole chain of those.
I'd be extremely cautious about a "subject to" offer since the common usage of that term is about the buyer taking over the sellers mortgage and the seller quit claiming. I'd run that offer past a really mean real estate lawyer and not just take the agent's word for what it means.
My house is in Bellevue and their condo is literally 5min away also in Bellevue. I told my agent that I was concerned about their risk of closing which could be 1 mo waste for us to pull off the market. After a round of negotiation, they only agree to do a couple thousands of dollars earnest money to be non-refundable ONLY after inspection. My thought at that time is that if they are so confident about closing their condo, it would be "fair" to ask non-refundable of the earnest amount they received from their buyer. It was just my way of evaluating their risk, which could transfer to my risk. It is not the earnest money I am fighting for but I just wanted to gauge their confidence.
Unless, it's typical practice in your area for there to be a non-refundable fee up front then I can understand why they would not have agreed to that. Personally, I would not have wanted to give you non-refundable monies prior to inspection. What if I inspect your house and don't like what I find? I think what they proposed was actually pretty reasonable. I don't know what typical escrow deposits are like in your area. However, I would imagine that if your home is selling for more than their condo that they should be wiling to put down a larger deposit on your home vs. what they got from their buyer. Making it totally non-refundable is very nerve racking though. You just never know what's going to happen. I once had a buyer back out because he was laid off and no longer qualified for a mortgage. Totally out of the buyer's control. He had no idea it was coming. Imagine if he had given me a non-refundable deposit. Where I am deposits are often large (often tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands) and losing yours is a major financial blow.
Hard to say if you shot yourself in the foot. How fast are other houses selling? Around here, everything is selling in the first weekend. So, if you're on the market two weeks that's a long time in these parts but I'm on the other side of the country from you. I'm just saying you need to put the timeline in the context of what's happening in the market around you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
