What exactly is a condition of sale offer, and how does it work in real life? You have found a house you love and you want to put in an offer, but you have not sold your own house yet. Can you still make an offer? How does it work, and how do you stay protected?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that there are a lot of moving parts, and is a bit like dominoes, but with the right strategy, it is absolutely possible
Get Your House Ready First
If you have found THE house and you want to put in an offer, your own house needs to be ready to sell as soon as possible. In Oxford County, generally speaking, you have about 6-8 weeks to get your home sold once your offer is accepted.
This is not the time to kick tires. You need to be serious, and you need to price your home to sell. You need to demonstrate a real desire to sell to buy.
Why This Matters So Much
Even after a seller accepts your offer the Seller can still offer their home for sale and can accept a backup offer while your offer remains conditional. Most buyers do not want to fall in love with a home, have their offer accepted in the number one position, and still carry the risk that they will not end up with it in the end.
Coming to the table ready to sell, priced right, and able to move quickly is what keeps you in the strongest possible position.
How the Offer Is Structured
Your offer will be conditional on selling your current home by a set date. As noted above, it is usually 6-8 weeks. This condition is structured to allow the seller the ability to keep marketing their home and the opportunity to accept a backup offer (Offer #2). In addition to the Condition of Sale, your offer will have a stipulation that if the Seller does accept a backup offer they need to provide you with notice, usually 48hrs, to make a final decision. This is called an “Escape Clause”
The Escape Clause
Your offer will be conditional on selling your current home by a set date. As noted above, it is usually 6-8 weeks. This condition is structured to allow the seller the ability to keep marketing their home and the opportunity to accept a backup offer (Offer #2). In addition to the Condition of Sale, your offer will have a stipulation that if the Seller does accept a backup offer they need to provide you with notice, usually 48hrs, to make a final decision. This is called an “Escape Clause”
Because your offer is still conditional Seller Sally is free to continue to market her home and showing it to other buyers.
Along come Buyer Barb & Bill with an offer of their own, an unconditional backup offer. Seller Sally accepts it as Offer 2, her backup.
Once Buyer Barb & Bill’s backup offer is unconditional, Seller Sally’s agent gives formal notice to Buyer Betty. From that point, Buyer Betty has 48 hours to make a final decision.
Two Ways This Can End
If Buyer Betty firms up her offer within the 48 hours, the home is sold to her, and the backup offer from Buyers Barb & Bill is no longer valid.
If Buyer Betty cannot fulfill her conditions making her offer firm within the 48 hrs then she releases Seller Sally from the contract, Seller Sally no longer has an agreement with Buyer Betty.
At that point, the backup offer from Buyers Barb & Bill automatically moves from Offer 2 to Offer 1 and because it unconditional the home is now sold firm to them instead.
The Bottom Line
A condition of sale offer with an escape clause can absolutely work in your favour, but it works best when you come prepared. Have your home ready, price it realistically, and be prepared to move quickly if a backup offer comes in behind you.
The buyers who come out ahead in this process are the ones who treat their own sale as seriously as their new purchase.
If you are thinking about buying before you have sold, let’s sit down and build a strategy that protects you every step of the way.