What contingency to include when buying a home?

[dd1204]

My husband and I are looking to purchase a home. We wanted to make an offer on a home we know needs repair. We ask our Realtor can we put a contingency on inspection and she told us no. She recommends for us to do the inspection on the property before making an offer, she told us once the offer is accepted we can't back out because something is wrong with the home. I thought we make the offer then do inspection and if something major comes up and they are not willing to fix or reduce the price we can walk. I really like our Realtor but I'm starting to think she's not the right fit for us. We have ask in separate occasions what would be a good starting point to offer on a particular home and she never knows, she'll said whatever you feel good with.

So what contingency did you guys put when making an offer?

[emjacobs]

The first house that we had a contract on had a contingency based on home inspection and well inspection.

This doesn't sound right.

[magdala9]

Different states have different rules on what you can walk away from. We had inspection as a contingency for each of our homes. We are in metro Boston. In addition to a house inspection, we also had a Title V (water and sewer) inspection as a contingency. Title V is a state law in MA that any water and sewer concerns must be brought up to code in order to for the sale to go through. Does your state have any state contingencies? These usually can be found on the state's (or city's) website and or by calling the city building inspector.

[pamela]

I guess it could depend on your state. In LA and TX, inspection contingency is the norm. With your other comment about not helping you with offer price at all, unless she's dual agency and representing the seller as well, I think you need to look for a new realtor. Unfortunately, that's messy now that you have found a potential house.

[candreco]

I think this can vary by state, I'm in Virginia. Both times we bought, we did the inspection after making the offer, with a contingency that we had 2 or 3 days to requests repairs or walk away. The owners then had the same amount of time to agree to repairs or walk away, or propose a different list of repairs, and then we would have a couple days to accept, counter or reject, and so on.

Until all contingencies were removed, including financing, title search, etc, the houses were technically just contract pending, not actually under contract.

[dd1204]

We're in Louisiana, I'm going to research what our state allow. Can we find someone else now? We are debating between 2 houses.

[boiler717]

We also had an inspection contingency. Financing too.

[boiler717]

We also had an inspection contingency. Financing too.

[mcfelix]

That sounds odd to me. I would absolutely include an inspection contingency and a financing contingency.

Did you sign a buyer broker agreement with your agent? Laws vary by state but where I live if you buy a home that a realtor showed you, even if you don't have a signed agreement with them, they are considered the procuring cause of the sale and therefore earned the commission. If you have a signed agreement, there should be a termination clause and you have to either have to give notice and both parties agree to terminate or you are bound to that agent until the agreement expires. If you have no signed agreement and want to look at other houses with another agent, you can absolutely do that.

[kaylie]

We had an inspection contingency and a financing contingency. I think both are fairly standard. Is your agent also the seller's agent? If you aren't happy with her, call the managing broker at her office and explain the situation and see if they can give you someone new. Many times the agreement you sign will be with the broker and not the agent.

[pamela]

If your agent works for a broker (like Gardner), try contacting the broker at the main office and asking for help. They are giving you wrong information and you should be able to at least get someone else knowledgeable in the office to help out.

[rachelgreen]

We had an inspection contingencies (both water and house) and we had 5 days to ask for remediation or proceed. If you have been shown these properties by this agent, even if you found the listing online and told her you wanted to see it, I'm almost positive any change in realtor is going to have to be done through her managing broker. If you are unhappy with her service and guidance, I wouldn't hesitate to contact the MB and discuss your concerns. The broker will also know how to answer your contingency question as well.

[gtkim]

We also had inspection and finance contingencies. We also had an appraisal contingency that stated if the house did not appraise for the purchase price the seller agreed to lower the sales price to the appraised amount or we could walk.

[dd1204]

Thanks everyone. She is really nice and accommodating to our schedule when showing us houses. I just need to make sure she screw us over. She is not the seller agent but an agent in her office is the listing agent.

[sillygoosegirl]

We had an inspection contingency. Why would you pay $400 for an inspection if you don't even know if you and the seller will be able to agree on a price? If you don't even know if the house will still be for sale when you get the inspection report back? I would get a new agent.

[goaskalice]

I'm not familiar with Louisiana laws but I find it hard to believe that you can't have an inspection contingency. Every buyer should negotiate for inspection and financing contingencies.

[moolarkey]

Contingency for inspections, sale of your present home (if you're selling one) , appraised value, that you can get the loan to buy the house (if not pre-approved) are all normal contingencies here.