The Real Estate Team of 

Sandee Abern and Clint Wolf

Selling homes in Lake and Cook County, Illinois for over 20 years!

Common home buying (or selling) contingencies

 

1) Surveys: Buyers sometimes make the approval of a contract subject to a survey of the

property or home that they are buying. 

 

2) Sewer & Septic: If a home does not have a public sewer running to it, it will require 

a septic system (for the obvious reasons). If a buyer writes an offer on this type 

of home (or property), the offer should be subject to a septic inspection. 

 

3) Well: If your home's water comes from a well, any buyer's contract should be subject 

to a well inspection. If you are buying a home with a well (and this is very common),

make sure you get the well inspected.

 

4) Home inspection: If you are buying a home, it is always a good idea to have a home

inspection. This becomes part of the contract, and the sale is subject to the

 home inspector's "report." 

 

5) Other types of inspections: These may include radon, mold, termites, other types of 

insects, lead paint, asbestos, etc. 

 

6) Financing: This contingency is present in almost all real estate sales. In the offer to

purchase, it should spell out the type of financing that the buyer is pursuing and the

seller is willing to accept.

 

7) Home sale contingency: This occurs when a buyer wants to buy a home with this sale subject

to the sale of his or her current home (commonly called an "A" contingency).

 

8) Home close contingency: This occurs when the sale of a home is subject to a buyer

closing on his or her current home. In such a case, the buyer has sold their home,

but has not yet closed on it (commonly called a "B" contingency).

 

9) Attorney's approval: Built into almost all real estate contracts, this contingency

gives the seller's and buyer's attorneys  an opportunity to go over the entire

contract and make sure that the contract is correctly written, valid, etc.

Often during this time, inspection issues (if any) are worked out.

 

Please Note:

USE THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS PAGE MAY NOT

BE ACCURATE, WORK FOR YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION OR BE SUITABLE OR APPROPRIATE FOR YOU.

WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL OR SOME OTHER AUTHORITY IN THE

APPROPRIATE FIELD BEFORE USING ANY OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE PROVIDE.

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