The Term Back-Up Offer Explained

The Term Back-Up Offer Explained

For any plan you have, you should always have a plan B. You can never be sure what will happen in any given situation, so it’s always good to cover all of your bases.

In real estate, this could look like a Back-up Offer.

Just like a formal offer, a back-up offer is an accepted document that will come in to play if the first offer falls through. As any agent will let you know, ANYTHING can happen when it comes to real estate transactions. 

As a seller: 

Your whole goal is to find a buyer for your home, right? Unfortunately, just because a buyer looks good on paper and made you a great offer, doesn’t always mean it will make it to the very end. There is no harm, at all, in accepting a back-up offer. That way, if your original buyer falls through for some reason, you do not have to take 10 steps back, but rather pick up where you left off. Of course, this could delay your closing date, but what’s a month when it could take two to start from scratch?

As a buyer:

More often than not you will be in a situation where your offer is not the only offer made on a home. If you are making an offer on a home you really want and the sellers go with someone else, ask to be the back-up offer, or be on the list of back-up offers (if there are multiple). Even if you are #3 on the list, you could make it to the top!

If you have an accepted offer on another home, having the back-up offer in place will give you even more security that you’ll be closing on this house soon.

As your agent, I will make sure we take all of the necessary steps for Plan A and B!

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