Contingent offers may be a way to move your home

There is a reason that realtors don’t like contingency offers; it gives the buyer a chance to walk away.  But I think that contingency offers may bring value in this market.  I see a trend with many of my clients who have homes to sell.  They have all these favorites and they want to make a move, but their own home is not sold. 

I am suggesting a contingent offer on a purchase, will allow buyers to see what their deal is on the buying end.  It provides a quantitative measure of what they will need at closing.  Essentially, if you know what kind of deal you are getting on the purchase, you know what you need from your home sale.  We live in a parallel universe, so in order to take advantage of the buyers market and “get the deal”, you will probably need to “give a deal”.  But, at least by making the offer on the dream home contingent on the sale of your current home, you move forward to all negotiations knowing exactly what you are getting on both ends.  It also will help sellers get comfortable with accepting  the current market value of the home they are selling. 

In this market, sellers are leaving homes with contingent offers on the market so there is no guarentee that this strategy will work.  But, it may offer an opportunity for negotiation that otherwise would not exist.