The Return of the Home Sale Contingency

With some changes in the market, we’re also seeing the return of the home sale contingency

Something that we have not seen in the real estate market very much over the last two years are home sales contingencies. 

But first off… what is a home sale contingency?

If you’re doing a home sale contingency, this means that you're going to purchase a new property and you have made an offer on that property contingent upon the sale of your current home. Essentially, you're moving from one home to another. 

In this set-up, you have to sell your current home to be able to purchase the new home. This is something that—honestly, the way the real estate market had been going in the last two years—we just did not see as something that was acceptable to most sellers. 

With a little bit more inventory on the market and a little bit higher interest rates and a little bit more time to breathe, we are seeing the return of the home sale contingency. 

Now, it doesn't happen very much, especially in a second home market, but in the primary housing market, most buyers need to sell their current home to be able to take that equity that they have in it and be able to roll it into the next purchase. 

So, one of the silver linings to the market changing a little bit is that buyers now may have the ability to get their offer accepted with a home sale contingency.