Peter den Boer writes a realistic post on selling and buying in a low-inventory market. The message: Eliminate your home sale contingency, and be prepared for temporary housing in order to sell and then buy.
I see many people moving within the area. They sell one home and move to another. This sets up several unique problems. Timing issues arise because if the seller sells their home before they can move into a new home, they can end up living with mom and dad for a while. If they don't sell fast enough, they can miss out on the next home.
When a seller makes an offer on another home and they need the proceeds from their current home to buy the new one, we typically write in a contingency that states that the purchase of the new home is contingent upon the sale of their current home. If the current home does not sell in the allotted time, the buyers have the right to cancel the new deal and get their earnest money back.
All well and good until you find out that sellers may not be interested in accepting an offer contingent upon the sale of another home. With inventory levels still very low, sellers do not want to remove their homes from the market based on a riskier deal with a contingency. I have run into this twice this year where the seller said come back when your sale is farther along.
Even full price offers are not enough for some sellers to enter into an agreement. If you have a home to sell, and you are looking to buy another, you need to get it under contract before trying to make a contingent offer on the next home. Otherwise you are negotiating from a very weak hand, and the offer may not even be considered.
I write about daily life as a Realtor in the Towne Lake Community in Woodstock Georgia.
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Kathryn Acciari, RSPS, SRS, RESE, CFA
Century 21 MetroWest
45 Lyman Street Suite 14
Westborough MA 01581
Serving the Route 9/20 Corridors of Central Massachusetts
Sturbridge to Westborough
Cell: (508) 982-0686
Email: kasellshomes@gmail.com
Web site: kathrynacciari.com
Blog: Real Estate Blog
Twitter: @kacciari
