Maybe it's a regional thing, but in my area you could put in a back-up contract. That is, assuming you want it to be a back-up contract and don't want to try to get in line ahead of the existing contract, which would be frowned-upon. In a back-up contract, if the existing contract fails, that triggers your contract. It would have you tied up during the period of time the house is wandering toward closing, but you could also put a time limit on yours.

With as much second-guessing and stopping-and-starting as is going on in real estate deals now, your contract could come into play. Particularly if the original contract agreed on a closing by "X" date and there was a problem and that date couldn't be met.

Years ago we put an offer in on a lot, contingent on selling our house. A couple of months later the seller received another offer on the lot. We were given notice to either remove the condition and go ahead and buy the lot or let it go. At that time we werent in a financial position to be able to buy the lot without selling our house, so we let it go. I think same rules apply still.

If there is a contingent contract on the house it is not "rude" to make a non-contingent offer. It's business. Hopefully the seller took the contingent offer with a "kick out" clause, meaning that they can force the original buyer to remove all contingencies and go forward with the deal or drop out so that they can take the new non contingent offer. The original buyer usually has a limited time period 24-72 hours to make the decision.

I don't know about the legalities, or the 'official' ettiquette on this, but when we were selling, we had to consider the possibility of it happening. After we had a verbal offer, which we'd accepted (just waiting for the contract to wend it's way to us), we had 2-3 other parties ask to see the house. So DH and I did sit down and discuss the situation from our point of view.

We decided that: if anyone wanted to come through, we'd be happy to let them, as long as they knew the house was almost under contract. We also agreed that that was ONLY in case our sale fell through--we decided we would not entertain any other offers, even they were higher, because we'd already given our word to our buyers.

So, when asked for showings, we told the booking desk that the house was almost under contract, that the 'lookers' were more than welcome to come by, if they wanted. One fellow DID come out, the others decided not to.

My personal ethics mandate that I not go back on my word. So I would never have let down someone who had bargained with me in good faith, after an agreement had been reached. Not even for (a lot) more money. If someone HAD made a higher offer, after they'd been clearly told we'd already agreed to sell to someone else, trying to steal the sale out from under them? They wouldn't have had a prayer of buying my house, not even if the first sale fell through. I'd feel that was a really obnoxious thing to do, and I wouldn't have inflicted those kinds of people on my neighbors.

Sorry--I don't know your situation, I'm certainly not commenting on you personally--just telling you what my impressions were when we WERE in that situation.

Anyone who has taken a contingency contract in this market without a kickout clause is an idiot. You have to assume that if they have realtor representation, at least the realtor has prevented them from being an idiot about that and sitting and waiting for a year with no showings. So, the home is still technically for sale, even though the buyer will certainly buy it if their home ever sells. There is nothing wrong at all with making an offer on a home for sale. Your realtor should have no problem presenting any seller with a contract.

Go and look at any home listed for sale, contingencies included. If you want to buy it, offer to buy it. You are not violating any etiquette to do so. No realtor in his right mind turns away an actual sale. Bird in the hand vs. the gazillion in the bush scenario. However, "pre-approved for financing" can mean a host of things. Be as sure as you can that you won't be the one scooped out from underneath if something weird happens with your financing---as has been happening more and more of late.

Where I live, the house with a contingent offer is still technically on the market, as the owner can still entertain other offers providing they give the original buyer 24-72 hours (depending what's in the contract) to remove the contingency. This is only fair to the seller as it can take the buyer several months to sell his/her home and the seller could miss out on other opportunities during this period.

There seems to be confusion on what a contingent contract is. When a seller takes a contingent offer on their home, they, they then would love to entertain others. You, as a new buyer, are expected to write offers on these properties, and the seller is expecting to receive them.
A lot of responses here have no ties to being involved with a contingent contract.

OP. First right of refusal contracts, where a buyer has a house to sell before they can close on another, is very common.
Make an offer and see what happens. Either the buyer can remove the contingecy or not and if not you might end up in first position.

So, in my experience, I'd say you will get no response from a seller with a contract on their property.

caulk_king, If the contract is contingent on the buyer selling and closing on their home, I think that the seller would be very happy to show the home to a qualified buyer with no contingencies.
And azzalea, when a buyer enters into a contract contingent upon selling their home they should know that the seller has every right to accept a non-contingent offer (providing that a "kick-out" clause was included). Would you have the seller wait 6 months or a year for the buyer to get their house sold? And verbal negotiations and agreements are no substitute for a written and signed contract.

Any seller or seller's agent would be delighted to get a non-contingent contract offer.

We were the buyers in this situation:

Found a house on craigslist that had an accepted offer that was contingent on the buyers selling their house. We made an offer with no contingencies. The earlier buyers had 48 hours to remove their contingency and continue with the deal. They couldn't do that so our offer was accepted.

It's a business deal. That's how it goes.

"It would have you tied up during the period of time the house is wandering toward closing"

If the contract has not been accepted it can be withdrawn at any time, and you can also simply put in a clause that allows the offer to be withdrawn before it becomes first.

So if a house has a sale pending sign, does that mean it has a contingent offer, or is the realtor the only one who knows? Or is the sale sign just still up?

You never know. Pending could be a solid contract with no contingencies, or a contingent contract. In my area most agents don't put up pending signs, in fact the company that I work for strongly discourages their use. Until a home actually closes, it's usually best to leave the For Sale sign up. You never know what is going to happen, and it doesn't look good for the pending sign to go up and then come down again.

If you think the house might work for you, call your own Realtor or the listing Realtor to check on the status.

If the listing Realtor says that there's a contract on the property, ask if there are contingencies & if so what they are.

What about 'Active with Contract.' I was told you could submit an offer as a back-up. House in question is a short-sale. Seller accepted the first offer which is a financed offer. We want the house and would offer cash.

Is it different with a short-sale? As a back-up offer on a short sale, would we be prevented from buying another house during the wait period with the bank negotiations?

How does one find out if the accepted offer has contingencies?

Well we tried and the seller did not want to entertain our offer (we would match the price but have no contingency, not even the mortgage contingency). That would not have been my decision, had I been the seller!

It seems very strange for a seller to turn down a firm buyer with no contingency and stick with a contingent offer.

That doesn't sound right.

Jane

The seller probably knows details to which you are not privy.

With any house under contract it is good to check with the listing agent to see if one can make another offer. The listing agent knows details that are not public, which may make the seller consider a better offer. Most times it is a secure contract, but you don't know unless you check.

CMarlin, What kind of details might there be?
It was FSBO. My agent thought that had there been a seller's agent, the deal would have gone to the next step (the other buyers would have a chance to remove their contingency).

For the others who were wondering how to know if there is a pending or contingent offer on the house, at least in our area, it is on the MLS. Redfin at least displays either "contingent" or "pending," as do the MLS data. Maybe this is not teh case outside the Midwest?

Because the home is FSBO, I'm guessing that the contingent offer doesn't involve a buyer's agent. Since your offer was identical and you have an agent, the seller didn't want to pay your agent's fee, essentially making your offer lower than the contingent one.

Actually, the contingent offer's agent negotiated dual agency. My agent was not interested in that, and so the seller would have got more in a deal with us, as our agent's fee was lower.

I want to know does a cash offer cancel out a contingency offer

@roger williams - NO a cash offer doesn't cancel out a contingency contract. However, if there is no contract (yet) and you have two offers on the table simultaneously the seller is free to choose among the offers. An offer is not a contract. If the seller had accepted the offer, then that is a contract. Your post mentions 'cash offer' and contingency offer - neither of which are contracts.

As to the rest of this 8 yr old thread - backup contracts are behind the primary contract and as mentioned if the primary falls through the first backup moves into the primary contract place.

Denita, couldn't a seller who gets a cash offer cancel a contingency contract since the cash offer is non-contingent? That's how I always understood the concept.

Pending sales shown as "contingent" do so to invite back up offers. Insist on a written response, acceptance or rejection. Not all listing agents present backup offers.

No, a seller can't cancel a contract on the basis of a subsequent cash offer unless the contingency was not fulfilled. eg contingent on the sale of buyers house by x date and sale didn't close. Or a financing contingency or other contingency not met. This is why backup contracts exist. There are enough primary contracts that fail to close that a backup makes sense. What would be the point of a contract if the seller could simply change his mind and jump into another contract without following the terms already agreed to by the parties? Some contingent contracts have very tight dates that allow the seller to cancel (think 72 hour kick out clause here). These type of primary contracts are especially good for backup contracts but you still have to follow the terms.
Those agents that don't present backup offers to their sellers are thankfully few and far between IME. I agree with getting the sellers response to the offer in writing to prevent that scenario.

Isn't the seller able to include a "kick out" clause in a contingency contract, enabling them to give the original buyers 24-72 hours to purchase as non-contingent or else cancel their offer contingency status offer? This would enable the seller to accept an immediate offer without contingency, especially if it's an all-cash offer.

Yes, the seller can counter the buyers offer with a 'kick out' clause and then if the buyer accepts it s/he has to perform. If a backup is submitted then the buyer has that 24-72 hour window to either remove the contingency or provide evidence that the contingency is satisfied (and so removed). It doesn't mean that there are no contingencies. Even in an AS IS cash offer there may be an inspection contingency for X days. Having said that, an inspection contingency is easy vs a 'sale of buyers home' type contingency.