How to Win Multi-Offer Situations: The Home Sale Contingency

Having a home sale contingency as part of your offer on a new property can sometimes devalue your offer in the eyes of the seller as it has the potential to complicate the closing timeline. Without adding extra money to the purchase price or deposit to make your offer more appealing, how do you make the home sale contingency less of an issue? There are two options.

Option 1: Get an accepted offer on your home before looking for a new home.

It is a seller's market, so buyers will be more flexible with closing dates to allow sellers to find suitable housing as well as potentially consider allowing you to rent back the house for a certain amount of time after closing. You will need to declare in your home's listing disclosures that the sale is subject to your finding suitable housing and any offer you accept should declare that the buyer will be flexible with closing dates to accommodate.

Option 2: Have your home's listing prepared and ready to go live within 24 hours of offer acceptance.

Before shopping for a new home, have your current home's listing prepared to enter the market. Complete any unfinished projects, have the landscaping cleaned and furniture staged, have professional photography shot and uploaded, and complete the MLS data sheet for the property. State in your offer that your home will be live on MLS within 24 hours of offer acceptance, and provide a copy of the listing to the seller's agent for review. If your home is priced right, you should have an accepted offer on your property within a week and closing timelines for the old and new property can be aligned.