{"id":19421,"date":"2023-03-22T00:38:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T00:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19421"},"modified":"2023-03-21T18:41:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T18:41:58","slug":"rethinking-backup-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/rethinking-backup-offers\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Backup Offers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">BY ANNA &amp; MICHELLE<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">A<\/span><span class=\"s1\">s with any professional, there are tools and techniques available to help with particular situations.\u00a0They might be more popular at certain times and might even be put aside or forgotten at others.\u00a0For real estate professionals, one of those is the backup offer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">In a situation where there are multiple offers, the seller can accept any offer for whatever reasons are important to them, leaving the makers of the other offers disappointed.\u00a0There is always some uncertainty that the buyers on a contract will close accordingly.\u00a0To hedge on that possibility, the seller may choose to make a counteroffer to one or more of the other offers to be a backup should the primary contract not close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">From a buyer\u2019s perspective, the purpose of a backup offer is to be next in line to have the chance to purchase the property should the first contract fall through.\u00a0The benefit is that you\u2019ll be next in line to purchase the home without having to submit another offer and, possibly, get into a bidding war.\u00a0It simply moves from the first backup to the primary contract position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">The buyer in the backup position also experiences uncertainty if it will work and, possibly, feeling like they could be wasting their time while waiting to hear the outcome of the first contract.\u00a0Some of these buyers will continue to look at homes in the likelihood that another acceptable or better property becomes available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Should this situation occur, the buyer in the backup position may or may not have the ability to withdraw from their contract.\u00a0It will depend on how the agreement is written.\u00a0It is important to understand the rights and limitations, as well as when they can be exercised.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">A backup offer can lock you into a binding contract until the primary contract\u2019s buyer is approved and closed or until it fails to close and the backup buyer becomes the primary.\u00a0The backup may or may not have a unilateral way to withdraw the offer prior to one of these outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Considerations that need to be understood by sellers and buyers alike are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Can a buyer in a backup contract unilaterally withdraw at any time?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Will the earnest money be deposited on a backup offer?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Will the timelines for contingencies like mortgage or inspections need to be made before becoming the primary contract?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">Will there be any fees incurred by the backup buyer?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Sellers sometimes use a backup offer to apply leverage to the primary contract\u2019s buyer.\u00a0For instance, if the seller feels the buyers\u2019 demands on repairs are too high, the seller might say something like \u201cif you\u2019re not willing to accept it \u2018as is\u2019, I have another buyer waiting to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Many buyers, as well as their agents, don\u2019t want to obligate themselves to a backup offer.\u00a0However, in certain situations, it is a good tool to have the opportunity to purchase a home that meets their needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">In the highly competitive market experienced in 2021 and part of 2022, some buyers may have been reluctant to use a backup because of the slim possibility that it would become the primary.\u00a0With the shift in the market due to the interest rate increases, a backup offer could be a viable tool to get the home of your dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Your real estate professional can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of backup offers.\u00a0Recognizing that contracts are legal and binding agreements, you can also consult an attorney who can confer with your agent to understand the situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18285 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-1024x241.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"696\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-1024x241.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-300x71.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-768x181.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-150x35.jpg 150w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-696x164.jpg 696w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide-1068x251.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/anna-matthieu-RE-Guide.jpg 1275w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY ANNA &amp; MICHELLE As with any professional, there are tools and techniques available to help with particular situations.\u00a0They might be more popular at certain times and might even be put aside or forgotten at others.\u00a0For real estate professionals, one of those is the backup offer.\u00a0\u00a0 In a situation where there are multiple offers, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-better-homeowners-news","category-sponsored"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19423,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19421\/revisions\/19423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}