If you have never purchased a home before, you might not know a lot about how to do this, and one thing you might not understand is the subject of contingencies. Adding contingencies to offers on homes is a normal part of the home-buying process, and here are three things you should know about contingencies if you're looking at homes for sale.
What is a contingency?
A contingency can be referred to as a request a buyer is making to the seller when purchasing a house. This request must be placed in writing on the offer, and every request must be listed separately. If the seller agrees to accept your offer, he or she is also agreeing to meet the requests you have listed on the offer. Because of this, sellers must read over the offers they receive very carefully so they can be certain they understand what the buyers are asking in the offers.
What contingencies should you add?
You can add whatever types of contingencies you want to add, but there are several that are very common on real estate offers. One common contingency is asking for the offer to be valid as long as the home inspection does not reveal major problems. Another contingency is asking the seller to pay some of the closing costs.
You can also ask the seller to fix or replace things in the house, or you can ask the seller to give you a credit for certain repairs that are needed. You can also include a contingency relating to the financing you obtain. For example, you may state that you will only buy the house if you can get a loan with a certain interest rate. Your real estate agent can help you determine what to ask for as you write your offer.
What happens if the seller will not agree to them?
The person who owns the house you want to buy does not have to agree to the contingencies you add on the offer. If the seller does not want to agree to them, he or she could reject your offer, or the seller could give you a counter offer. The counter offer may state that the seller agrees to certain contingencies but not to others.
Adding contingencies to the offer you write is a normal part of the process, and you can talk to your real estate agent to learn more about adding contingencies to your offer.
After thinking long and hard about what kind of home to buy, I began talking with a real estate agent about getting a deal that I could live with for the rest of my life. I really wanted to find a home and a deal that offered pleasant terms for me and my business, so I began focusing seriously on getting things done. It was amazing to me to see just how different various real estate deals were, and before I knew it, I was making some changes that would work for my lifestyle. Within a few months, things were a lot better. This website is all about understanding and applying real estate deals.