Selling a home in Delray – Should we accept a buyer’s contingent offer?

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We received this excellent question recently:

 

Our house has been on the market for awhile and now we have an offer.

But, it’s contingent upon the sale of the buyer’s home. What does this mean? Should we accept it? It’s the first offer we’ve had in a few months, so I’m thinking yes. Help!

 

Our advice would certainly depend on a lot of factors, but it’s a maybe!

If your home has been on the market for awhile and it’s not a seller’s market in your home’s price bracket, you don’t want to unilaterally just pass on this – it could be a great opportunity.

We’d want to ask some more questions… Can we work with that buyereir offer to a place that works for both parties? Also, is their home on the market? Is their home under contract? If so, we’d want to look at that contract. We would need to understand how strong their offer is.

There are times that we’ve represented buyers that came forth with an offer like this. It wasn’t our listing, and guess what? We got to the closing table – because we know how to get our buyers to the closing table. In this case, the agent on the other side needs to be helpful, too. So, we also look at who that agent is… because that does make a difference, and we are often familiar with that agent.

There’s a particular clause in the contracts here in Florida called a “kick-out clause.” If it’s a buyer’s market, you as a seller may or may not want to consider that. Basically this clause says,

“I’ll take your offer and it’s contingent upon the sale of the home, but I’m leaving it active. I’m taking backup offers, and when I get an offer you’re going to get first right of refusal. If you still want this house, then okay, the contingency’s gone, this house is yours.”

This can be helpful, as it gives the buyer some protection. If she or he is not in a position to own both homes, this offer can be accepted, subject to the above –  a win-win for a buyer and a seller.

The most important thing to know is that every scenario is different, so you want to be sure you are working with the right Realtor… a team that can give you guidance and help you make the right decision for your specific situation.  There are a lot of factors to come together to create the right deal! (That’s the part that we love! It’s the the fun part!)

We’d love the opportunity to help you through scenarios such as this, and to get you to the closing table. Contact us at (561) 571-2289 for a no-obligation consultation!

Selling Boynton home: Do we need a pre-listing inspection?

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A social media friend sent us a question recently. He wrote: 




We’re going to sell our Boynton Beach home soon. I’ve been hearing recently that sometimes home owners who plan to sell pay for a pre-listing home inspection. What is the benefit? If we sell our home, do I need one?

I will answer this question the way we answer a lot of our questions lately – with “It depends.” Here’s why:

In a perfect world, we’d always like to see a pre-listing inspection so we know what issues may exist. It can be incredibly helpful.

The benefits:

If you, the seller, are the first to know of any items that may show up in inspection, you can work with us to develop a strategy around how to handle those issues. We can decide what we want to fix in advance. We can learn the costs needed to repair some of the bigger, more complicated items. Being informed helps us to better negotiate.

Ideally, the issues do not end up impacting the listing price or the selling price. But it’s good to be prepared and pre-think whether we are open to offering a credit, and/or if we plan to make repairs.

In a scenario in which you have an older home that maybe needs a lot of work – or when we know we’re going to have inspection issues – it’s actually imperative so we know what we are actually dealing with.

But, it’s not realistic to have a pre-listing inspection in every scenario. We look at our clients’ needs on an individual case-by-case basis. To help you make a decision about this, we look at factors like the home’s age and condition (as mentioned), the price point, the hyper-local market conditions, and your personal timeline and goals.

 

We often begin to discuss this in a pre-listing consultation appointment. We’d love the opportunity to work with you and help guide you through the process of listing and selling your home. Please call us anytime – Amy and Noreen, All About Florida Homes, Keller Williams Realty –  at (561) 571-2289.

And, if you’d like us to provide you with a free, on-obligation home value estimate, head here to request it:
https://amyandnoreenteam.com/home-value/

After a Home Inspection, Does the Seller Have to Make Repairs Before Closing?

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After inspection, if items come back that need to be repaired – is the seller required to do the repairs?

To answer this question, I’m going to take you back to when we were making an offer on a property.  Like with many things we negotiate in real estate transaction, it depends on the strategy. This will have been a conversation that we would have had together before we made an offer.

Are we offering with “as is with right to inspect?”

In that case, the seller is not obligated to make any repairs. When deciding how to handle this as a buyer (and as your agent), it’s truly a matter of whether you want the property as is, or if it would be better for you if we cancel the contract. 

Or, are we working with one of the other types of contracts – where there is a repair limit?

In this case, there’s a dollar amount in there. The seller is obligated, in this case, to repair items up to that dollar amount.

But the truth of the matter is this: If the seller wants to sell and the buyer wants to buy, we work together with the other agent to come to an agreement that’s a win-win for both sides. Which contract we use does make a difference, of course, and that’s a decision we’ll make together when we’re going down the path of making an offer.

 

If you’re interested in buying – now or in the future – you can search listings here – and start to familiarize yourself with the buying process and the market.

If selling may be in your future – or you’re just curious about what your home is worth today – you can request a no-obligation home value assessment here. 

Or, contact us at (561) 571-2289 – or via amyandnoreen@allaboutfloridahomes.com – if we can provide you with any guidance to help inform your decisions! We are here to help.