How do you handle subject to sale offers?

Most Agents will take a “Subject to Sale” offer.

Then ask them:          How many of your Subject to Sale Offers collapsed?

How many of them completed?

Did you do a CMA on the buyer’s home to confirm they pricing it right?

Did any buyers ask for a further Sale Price Reduction to remove their subject?

Many Buyers will say: I will make this Subject-To-The Sale of my house at a stupid high price or I will not buy this home.

Now remember that Buyers Agent is getting two commissions and will try very hard to convince the Listing Agent to take their “ Will Never Happen Subject Sale”.

“ Common words I have heard from the Buyers Agent after about 3 weeks :

My Buyer had to come down $50,000 on their sale price so we will do that only if you the seller come down another $50,000 on our purchase.

Now this puts the Seller in a terrible position because:

Yes when they started out with buyer Feeding Frenzy 3 weeks ago with ? 5 buyers and, now 3 weeks later ALL OF THOSE BUYERS ARE GONE.

If any of those Buyers are still around, now they will write another offer $50,000 LOWER because you are now desperate, and they have no other competitive bids to push your price up.

Critical Skill: The more sales experience your agent has, the more skills to get you that firm sale.

Taking the Bird-in-the-Bush “subject sale” because of a higher offer price is very, very dangerous.
Here, you are dependent on the Buying Agent’s skills.
Remember that your offer price is not cash but a promise, and if 90% of the listings fail to sell, then your odds are very slim. Strong skills here will protect you from losing $10,000's!

At CoughlinTeam, we really protect our sellers with a subject sale offer by:

Confirming that the buyer has a realistic listing price (we do a CMA).

Ensuring that their home will be listed within 48 hours.

Listing their home at an encouraging commission.

Offering a 24-hour bump clause any day of the week (sometimes just 12 hours bump clause).

Often asking for $5,000 direct cash to our listing client to cover any interest. This one really separates the dreamers from the serious ones. If you are a serious buyer, then give us $5,000 non-refundable now or walk away!

Recognizing that if we accept a Subject Sale offer, we will probably lose all of our other buyers.

Making sure every other buyer has every chance to offer a firmer purchase.

We would probably be recommending that you take a firmer sale with a little less money over an offer with subject to the moon turning blue.