Buyer contingency to sell a property If you are buying a new home but first need to sell your current property, in order to purchase that new home, you must disclose that in your offer to the seller. You will do it with the “contingency” that your current home must sell in order for you to buy the new home.
Q:
How long is the contingency time frame?
A:
17 days unless otherwise negotiated.
Q:
What happens if I don’t sell my current home by the time my contingency is up?
A:
At that point, you will have 3 options: Remove your contingency and buy no matter what (if you qualify to buy without selling your current home) Ask for an extension to the contingency and if the seller agrees, you can continue to try and sell your current property. Cancel escrow with no penalty to you.
Seller contingency to find a replacement property If a seller is selling their home, but needs to find a replacement property in order to move, then they may sell “contingent on finding a suitable replacement property”. This means that when they accept an offer, they will do it with a “contingency” giving them a certain time frame to find a replacement home.
Q:
How long is the contingency time frame?
A:
There is no mandatory time frame. It is negotiated in the contract and agreed upon by all
parties.
Q:
What happens if they don’t find a replacement property by the time the contingency is up?
A:
At that point, the seller will have 3 options: Remove the contingency and sell no matter what Ask for an extension to the contingency and if the buyer agrees, they can continue looking for a replacement property. Cancel escrow with no penalty.
EXAMPLE COVER LETTER FROM BUYER TO SELLER Dear Sellers, Good Morning! My name is John, my wife’s name is Jane, and we just wanted to thank you for considering our offer to purchase your beautiful home! We’ve been hunting for a few months now, but once we saw your home, we knew the hunt was over. A little bit about ourselves: Jane and I are newlyweds, having gotten married in September of 2014. We are first time home buyers looking to start this new chapter of our lives in North Park. WE have a dog named Fido, who is a 2 year old black lab mix that we adopted from Lab Rescues San Diego. Jane works as a Speech Language Pathologist Assistant in a pediatric clinic, assisting children diagnosed with various developmental delays and other speech and language impairments. I am a Capitan in the United States Marine Corps, where I have been serving for the past 6 years. We both received our undergraduate degrees from San Diego State University in 2004 and 2005 respectively. I am pursuing a graduate degree from Marshall University and Jane is pursuing hers from Utah State University. I will be deploying back to Afghanistan for my third deployment later this year, and having a home in a safe area for my wife while IM gone is very important to me. A little bit about your house: IN short, we love it. Immediately after we walking into the home, Jane fell in love with the openness of the kitchen, living and dining areas. The warmth and welcome atmosphere the house offers is a quality that was a priority for us as we’ve been searching for your our perfect home. The updated appliances and fixtures made an impression on Jane as well, as she loves to cook and entertain with friends and family. With me being gone for 7 months later this year, I want Jane to be able to entertain and have friend and family over to support us in this journey. Your home is perfect for that. That backyard is the perfect place for our dog and we know he will be ecstatic to have all that open spaced to explore and play. We are hoping to expand our family in the next couple of years, so living on s safe, family friendly street is very important. While it is still early in the process, I can assure you (and wish to convey), that we are the type of family who will take care of the home you pass on. We will do our best to be a positive addition to the neighborhood.
Thank you in advance for considering our offer. We would be honored to have the opportunity to purchase your house and make it our home. Sincerely, John and Jane Doe