Home Buyers In Oakland County Michigan Real Estate………Contingency Offer
In the past it wasn’t uncommon for home buyers in Oakland County Michigan to need to sell a house prior to purchasing the new home. “Back in the day” everybody had equity, prices were increasing rapidly, and just like in any market, properly priced homes sold. So there wasn’t a huge risk when the seller accepted an offer subject to the sale of another home. Often called a 72 hour contingency.
Basically the way it worked: Buyer makes an offer with acceptable price and terms and subject to the sale of the buyer’s current house which would need to be listed with an agent. If somebody else came along before the buyer sold his house, the buyer would have 72 hours to perform or back out. If the buyer’s house sold first, then he would just remove the 72 hour contingency clause and proceed to close.
Sellers didn’t have anything to lose. Their house was still on the market, values were going up and it didn’t seem like there were any distressed sellers back them.
Now days we haven’t been seeing 72 hour contingencies at all. Prices are declining and sellers don’t want a 3 day obstacle for a potential qualified buyer.
So- after a 4 paragraph intro we get to the topic of this post. Contingent offers on distressed sale homes, AKA short sales and foreclosures. First of all, banks will not accept an offer contingent on the sale of another home. Banks tend to price for quick sales and aren’t willing to wait for your house to sell first. If you need to sell first, don’t even look at bank owned homes.
I can’t say definitively that absolutely no short sale listing will accept a contingent offer. But I can say the majority won’t. Once the bank approves the short sale they expect to close quickly; they aren’t going to wait around for your house to sell and close. I don’t even know if a bank will look at a short sale with that contingency attached to the offer. Also, short sale sellers tend to be under the gun to get the house sold. Many are facing foreclosure and time is of the essence.
If you need to sell your current home in order to purchase the next one, the best advise I can give you is to sell first then purchase the next home subject to the closing of your current home.
Kari Trail Butz……..Realtor……….Buyers Agent
Keller Williams Realty………………Hawley Team
Direct Mobile………………………..248-459-9789
Email: Kari@BuyMiHomes.com
Website: www.BuyMiHomes.com
Michigan Real Estate 