In a monthly survey of REALTORS®, the survey asks buyer’s agents about the characteristics of their most recent sale for the month. The survey asks, “Was there a contingency?”
According to a survey of REALTORS® who responded to the January 2018 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, 76 percent of buyer’s agents who closed a sale in January 2018 reported that the closed sale had a buyer contingency.
Home inspection was the most common contingency, reported by 58 percent of buyer’s agents who reported a buyer contingency.[1] Getting the correct appraisal and obtaining financing were the next most common buyer contingencies, which were reported by nearly four in ten of buyers’ agents who closed a sale.
Buyers’ contingencies are a safeguard for buyers, and as the data shows, most contracts that closed do have a buyer contingency. So as a buyer’s agent assisting a buyer nail a home in this seller’s market, don’t skip out on including a contingency that safeguards the buyer’s interest. You won’t be the odd man out.
[1] Based on the respondent’s most recent sale for the month. These most recent sales can be deemed to be a random sample of all sales.