Can I make an offer on a property if it’s already under contract?
Posted on Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm.A client asks:
Can I make an offer on a property if it's already under contract?
If a property is under contract, we cannot show you the property without the listing agent's express permission (which they are unlikely to give), but we can put what's called a "back-up offer" in, which means if the primary contract falls through, the seller will consider your offer.
We don't generally recommend this for several reasons:
- Contracts rarely fall out, and if they do, there's often a good reason - for example, the property might have failed a home inspection. You don't want to be obligated to a contract you submitted on a property that might have problems.
- If the property does fall out of contract, you might have changed your mind, and by the time the seller accepts your back-up offer, you might not want to follow through with the contract.
We feel a better approach is to have us:
- Contact the listing agent to understand how strong the current contract is
- Have us track the property to see if it falls out of contract. If it does, that is a good time to make an offer
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