The 3 Purposes of Contingencies on Purchase Offers
Anyone who buys a house has the right and opportunity to include contract contingencies on the purchase offer, but do you know what these are and why people use them? A contingency is a request or condition of some kind for a real estate transaction. If the seller agrees to an offer that has contingencies, he or she is agreeing to the conditions and requests on the deal. As the buyer in the deal, it is important to understand the three main purposes contingencies serve on purchase offers.
1. To protect your purchase
One of the three main purposes of contingencies is protection. When you get ready to buy a house, do you want to feel safe in this purchase? If so, you should use contingencies. An example of how a contingency protects you is by examining how a home inspection contingency works. When you put a home contingency on a purchase offer, you are telling the seller that you want the right to not only get the home inspected but also to void the deal if the inspector finds any issues. Without adding this to the contract, you would not have the right to get the inspection or back out without losing money.
2. To request the seller to pay for things
The second purpose of a contingency is to ask the seller to pay for things. Do you want the seller to pay some of the money needed for your closing costs? Do you want the seller to replace the old refrigerator in the kitchen before you close on the deal? If you want the seller to be responsible for paying for these types of things, you must include them on the purchase offer as contingency requests.
3. To make specific requests
Finally, adding contingencies gives you the ability to make specific requests. For example, do you want to close on the house within 30 days? If so, write this as a contingency. You can make any special requests you want when writing an offer, even if they are very specific or unique. The seller does not have to agree to these requests, though, and may counter them if he or she does not want to agree to them.
Adding the right conditions and requests to the offer you write gives you protection and the ability to make special requests. To learn more about the types you should add to your purchase contract, contact services like Zaragoza Realtors.