Real Estate - Conditional Offer on Sale of existing

[Minor_Threat]

Does anyone have any experience in putting an offer on a house before selling your own?

I am of the opinion that a conditional offer (pending sale) with x week expiry carries no real 'clout'.

We are told that the vendors will accept this, however I dont really see the point as the house is still on the market and they can accept other offers etc.

Has anyone successfully done this? What are your thoughts? Our house is on the market as of yesterday and are confident it will sell within 5 weeks.

[3oneday]

You are right, however generally the real estate agent is working for both of you so if they get an offer you'll know about it.

I wouldn't hold out much hope though if the next offer is higher than yours, but maybe it's been on for a while?

[meh]

Real estate agents are there for the seller and that's it.

[Minor_Threat]

It has been on for a while, at least 3 months I believe!

[BenM]

You can put the offer in but just be prepared to get knocked out.

We bought our current property like this - it was under offer subject to sale, we got a contract on our house from a cash buyer, then went in and gazumped the previous contract since ours was pretty much unconditional at that point.

There is no harm in making the offer though. It does give you a little certainty (we had a brief day or two of concern once we'd sold our place and had nowhere to go). But it is also hard to give your best offer since you won't know how much your place will sell for and need to leave wiggle room in your budget; it may also make you more motivated to sell.

[3oneday]

Real estate agents are there for the seller and that's it.you're kidding yourself :)

[markTHEblake]

I am of the opinion that a conditional offer (pending sale) with x week expiry carries no real 'clout'.Not sure what you mean by that? Perhaps you mean the contract has some sort of sunset clause that allows the seller to accept another offer. Personally I wouldn't bother until you at least have on offer for your own house on the table. You never know, your buyers might want a subject to sale clause of their own.

[Daves]

Real estate agents are there for themselves and that's it.

FIFY

[Yossarian]

Is there any profession that ozgolfers have a bit of time for?

MT,

My folks did it and it worked out really well for them.

[Minor_Threat]

The only way I can see it working is if I get them to remove it from sale in the conditional offer, otherwise there is no difference to leaving it up for sale with no offer.

[davepuppies]

You have a few options.

The preferred option would be to execute a option, which would give you a certain period of time ( say 2 months) to exchange a contract unconditionally. This typically comes with a nominal deposit, usually 1%

You could exchange on a deposit bond, that would still allow a unconditional exchange, but the vendor would receive the full balance at settlement.... A deposit bond is like insurance if you like.

You could make a offer subject to, and exchange on a extended cooling off period, however I can't imagine the vendors being receptive to this.

Beyond these options, in each instance where you are putting pen to paper on a contract, the property is technically on the market and the vendors can sell to another party even if they have accepted your offer.

Is bridging finance a option?

[markTHEblake]

Personally I would never do this again, once is enough, most stressful thing ever. The condition in my purchase contract was watertight, so I wouldn't lose a cent on that, but the buyer of my property delayed 4 times, Twice they delayed an hour before settlement, one time the removalists had already started loading, I think that one cost about $400 to send them home and come back in another week.

Sell your house first. Require 60 day settlement, don't look at new houses until it goes unconditional, don't accept any contract conditional on sale of something else, don't accept less than 10% deposit.

[Minor_Threat]

Personally I would never do this again, once is enough, most stressful thing ever. The condition in my purchase contract was watertight, so I wouldn't lose a cent on that, but the buyer of my property delayed 4 times, Twice they delayed an hour before settlement, one time the removalists had already started loading, I think that one cost about $400 to send them home and come back in another week.

Sell your house first. Require 60 day settlement, don't look at new houses until it goes unconditional, don't accept any contract conditional on sale of something else, don't accept less than 10% deposit.
This is what I am thinking, I just need to keep a lid on the missus. Our contract of sale is 8 weeks.

[davepuppies]

Bear in mind you will also need the new purchasers to agree to a release of deposit, which doesn't always happen...... However I agree it's best to sell first and hold the cards rather than gamble

[PeteyD]

The purchase process is still different in NSW and QLD?

When we sold we asked for a long settlement to give us time to find a new place (60 days). We finally found one with 30 days left, just when we were talking about having to rent. I was not willing to sign a contract pending sale of the old place.

[markTHEblake]

The purchase process is still different in NSW and QLD? They are definitely done different in NSW. Forgot what but one thing the industry wouldnt do is 30 day contracts. Everyone seemed to think it was impossible, but other states managed just fine. Maybe different now though.

[davepuppies]

Our standard in NSW is 42 days.

The entire process is different between NSW and QLD.

Can't comment on other states