"Will Your Seller Accept a Contingent Offer?"

"Will Your Seller Accept a Contingent Offer?"

Any offer is better than no offer, right? Not necessarily.

A buyer's agent recently asked if my seller would consider an offer contigent on the sale of her client's current home. Before I could present the question to my seller, I had to find out some information:

• Is the buyer's home currently listed for sale in MLS?
• Is there an offer on that house?
• Has the option period expired?
• What kind of financing does the buyer of that home have?
• When is the house scheduled to close?

I got the answers and talked to my seller. Since the house of the buyer was not yet listed (it would be on the market in 1-2 weeks), we replied that we would accept a contingent offer only after that house was under contract and out of the option period.

Yes, it is a tight market in the Dallas Metroplex. Yes, the buyer's home may sell quickly. But while we're waiting out a contingency, we're losing other potential buyers for my client's home. Yes, sellers are reluctant to put their home up for sale until they know they have somewhere to move to, but my smart sellers are not going to tie up the home they're trying to sell if you're not ready to sell your home.

The answer to "Will your seller accept a contingent offer" is ... maybe.