Just say the magic words…

no, not abra cadabra.  Or even wingardium leviosa.  It’s actually “I’ve got a house to sell in Seattle…”

When writing a sale of buyer’s property contingent offer on a house (someone wants to buy a house but they need to sell one first), there are certain circumstances that definitely make the offer look more attractive.  Of course, you want the house being sold to be priced right, and hopefully it’s in a good neighborhood and is in good condition, and if it’s not, the price needs to reflect that.  You want to make sure the listing agent for the contingent home has a good track record of selling houses in a short time frame.  And, if it’s outside of your market area, you want to make sure that the market where the house is being sold is a good market.  That’s where the magic phrase comes into it.

If a client says they have a house to sell in Detroit, or certain areas of California, or any area which was hot hot hot just 6 months ago, but is not not not now, your heart can  sink.  The offer from the contingent buyer just doesn’t look as attractive if that contingent house is going to take a long time to sell. 

We get a lot of Seattle buyers over here, and thankfully, the market there is still nice and fast.  It’s not put-up-the-sign-now-take-it-down-it’s-sold fast, but it moves at a pretty fair clip.  So, “I’ve got a house to sell in Seattle…” is still the magic phrase.  For now.