Ask the REALTOR: You use the word “contingency” a lot. What does it mean?

By in Ask the REALTOR® with 0 Comments
Published on June 20, 2018 / Last updated on June 19, 2018

Ask the REALTOR® is a regular video series in which I answer your most commonly-asked real estate questions, with a new Q&A posting every week. If YOU have a real estate question for me, drop me a note here.

This week’s question: You use the word “contingency” a lot. What does it mean? Here’s the answer in this brief video, and don’t miss the transcript below.

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Transcript:

Hello, everyone. This is Cari McGee with Keller Williams Realty. Welcome to this week’s episode of “Ask the Realtor.” Every week, I answer questions from buyers and sellers — and pretty much everyone in between — regarding real estate.

This week’s question is, “Cari, you use the word ‘contingency’ and ‘contingencies’ a lot in these videos. What does that mean?”

Well, a contingency is something that must happen in order for a sale to proceed through to closing. For example, if someone needs to sell their house before they buy another house, we will make the contract contingent upon the sale of the other house. If there needs to be an inspection before the person will proceed with purchasing the house, we will have an inspection contingency. If they need to make sure that they can get the money that they need from the bank in order to purchase the house, we will have a financing contingency. So, a contingency is something that must happen in order for the sale to proceed through to closing.

Sometimes you will also hear me use the word “subject to,” and “subject” is something that may happen, or could happen, or might help the process along, but it does not have to happen like it does with a contingency.

So, that’s that answer. And if you have any other questions for me regarding real estate, by all means, give me a shout via any one of the methods that follow on the next screen. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.

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About The Author
Cari McGee

My husband and I came to the Tri-Cities in 1994, and we thought it would be a temporary stop on our way to larger cities. He was a television sports anchor at the time, and we planned to go wherever the "next step up" took us. Twenty-plus years later, we're still here and we've loved every minute of it! We have two children now, and we've found the Tri-Cities area is a wonderful place to raise a family. It's a great place to do outdoorsy things -- I like to hike Badger Mountain or run along the river path. I also love reading ... by a cozy fire in the winter or a beautiful picture window in the summer (with the A/C on!). I've been a licensed Realtor since 2004. I earned my managing broker's license in 2016, which means I can run my own brokerage, or create a team of real estate agents and supervise them, which is exactly what I did when I formed the Cari McGee Real Estate Team in 2018! We have administrative and marketing personnel, as well as additional agents to serve you. I became a director of the Tri-Cities Association of Realtors Board of Directors in 2016, became Secretary/Treasurer of the organization, and was elected to Vice President in 2019. Want to talk about real estate? Click here to schedule a meeting with me!

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