Buying a Home? Consider These 5 Common Contingencies

When making an offer to purchase a home, you might consider making your offer contingent upon certain circumstances. Without these “contingencies,” you could be obligated to purchase the home via an enforceable purchase offer, even though the home may not be exactly what you thought it was at the time you entered into the agreement. In order to avoid having to purchase a home that you might not want, it is well advised to include contingencies in your purchase offer.

Common Home Buying Contingencies

The following are among the most common contingencies that can work to your advantage in making an offer on a home:

1. An appraisal of the home’s true value.
2. An inspection (and report) demonstrating that there aren’t any serious problems or defects with the property.
3. The ability to obtain lender financing for the purchase price.
4. Clear title, even without any evidence of other claims to ownership.
5. Being unable to sell your existing home by a certain date.

For more information about what contingencies you should include in a purchase offer for a home, contact an experienced Real Estate Attorney in your area, or the area in which you will be purchasing the new home. You can also find further information regarding legal issues affecting Real Estate on LawInfo’s Real Estate resource page.