How to Deal With First Right of Refusal

If you have a home to sell but want to buy a new home contingent on selling, you might ask the seller to give you a first right of refusal.

Sellers generally don’t advertise that a contingent offer is acceptable. In fact, some won’t even consider a contingent offer — meaning the buyer needs to sell an existing home before the buyer can fulfill the terms of the contract to purchase — because they don’t understand how it works.

In most cases, it’s no skin off the seller’s nose to accept a contingent offer. Sometimes it’s the motivation needed for another buyer to submit an offer to purchase. Why? Because the desirability of a home seems to go up when somebody else wants it.

The problem that arises is when the seller receives another offer and tries to kick out the first buyer by invoking a Notice to Perform. Some buyers slink quietly away. Some will fight tooth and nail. For the latter, here are five ways a home buyer can remove the contingency to sell and move forward with the transaction . . . read more about First Right of Refusal.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:

• Buying Before Selling
  
• Writing a Contingent Contract
  
• Buying and Selling at the Same Time

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