The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: AerynLee on June 08, 2015, 07:01:30 PM
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We have our house listed FSBO. A couple came and looked at it yesterday and today gave us a verbal offer conditional on sale of their property. They understand that since it's conditional it won't come off the market and we're still going to have an open house this weekend.
Should I have the offer put in writing? The standard real estate forms I was given aren't well suited for a conditional offer though we could make them work
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Googling FSBO contingent offer will give you much material on which to chew.
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I did, that's actually why I'm asking. It doesn't seem like an offer contingent on sale of purchaser's property is very binding on either party. Normally I'd insist on getting an offer in writing but in this case I'm not sure it's all that useful
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Get it in writing, if only for the practice. Having it in writing also removes ambiguity about who promised what to whom. It also may cause prospective buyers to accelerate their own selling activities.
But do use the services of an experienced real estate attorney to have the written language protect you to the extent possible.
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We have our house listed FSBO. A couple came and looked at it yesterday and today gave us a verbal offer conditional on sale of their property. They understand that since it's conditional it won't come off the market and we're still going to have an open house this weekend.
Should I have the offer put in writing? The standard real estate forms I was given aren't well suited for a conditional offer though we could make them work
Depending on where you live, a written offer to buy is nothing more than a promise that is not enforceable. I'd get a written offer to buy PLUS a refundable earnest money check. Deposit the check. If the deal falls through you can refund the money but people tend to be more serious when they are putting money in play. The contract can be in simple language.
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We have our house listed FSBO. A couple came and looked at it yesterday and today gave us a verbal offer conditional on sale of their property. They understand that since it's conditional it won't come off the market and we're still going to have an open house this weekend.
Should I have the offer put in writing? The standard real estate forms I was given aren't well suited for a conditional offer though we could make them work
Depending on where you live, a written offer to buy is nothing more than a promise that is not enforceable. I'd get a written offer to buy PLUS a refundable earnest money check. Deposit the check. If the deal falls through you can refund the money but people tend to be more serious when they are putting money in play. The contract can be in simple language.
This, but put the money in an escrow account separate from your other accounts. Make sure you out the refund conditions in the agreement as well.
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Almost every real estate contract (offer) form has a blank area to write in contingencies. The most frequent one is that the offer is contingent upon buyer getting financing. But the house sale contingency is not uncommon. Write in the contingency field something like "offer is contingent upon buyer's successfully completing sale of current residence." Easy as pie with canned filling and off the shelf crust.
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Yes, get it in writing. And add all the other great details and terms in the process. People can casually say "Oh we would buy this if ours sold" but it doesn't mean too much. Of course that contingency isn't very solid anyways, but you should still get the basic terms in writing.
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I spent an eight year stretch successfully building spec. houses for a living. The ONLY time I really got a good screwing was when a realtor talked me into signing a "contingent on the sale of the buyer's existing home" contract. IMHO, I wouldn't waste the paper to write anything. If they are not buyers until they sell their current shack, you need to move on to qualified buyers, if they turn into one great, if not, no worries, no stress.