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Shopping for a new home before you have sold your first house can be frustrating. You see a house that would be perfect, but you can’t buy before you sell yours. A conditional 72-hour clause in your offer is a solution.

Clause R2.1 of a Promise to Purchase states that the Promise to Purchase is conditional to the buyers selling their present home within a time period (30,60 or 90 days usually). They must fulfill all other conditions of the offer, do their building inspection and get a bank approval letter for their mortgage (conditional to selling their present home) so the only conditions remaining on their offer are selling their home, presenting an unconditional bank letter and of course the signing of the deed of sale.

While the buyers work at selling their home, the seller holding the ‘conditional offer’ doesn’t want to put all his eggs in one basket, he wants to try and sell his house to someone else that doesn’t have to sell their house to buy his house. To be able to do this the Clause R2.2 must be ticked in the offer. This clause allows the seller to continue to actively market his home and look for another buyer.

Should the seller receive another offer he deems acceptable, whether it Is a higher or lower price than the first offer, he can accept it conditional to the first offer falling through.  The second buyers would then have to fulfill all their conditions, building inspection, finance etc.. Once all the second offers conditions have been waived, other than the notary signing, the sellers must turn to the first offer and give them 72 hours to remove the condition of selling their house and present a non-conditional finance letter OR render their offer null and void. The 72 hour time frame commences as soon as the first buyer receives a time stamped telegram or a time stamped hand delivered amendment. It doesn’t matter if it is a Friday night or on the weekend, the 72 hours starts as soon as notice has been received.

If you are the first buyer with a conditional offer on a home, the first thing I suggest you do when your offer is initially accepted is to speak to your bank to see if you could buy without selling your home if you received a 72 hour notice. Could you afford a bridge loan? Two mortgages? It’s better to know ahead of time to avoid panic and scrabbling when you receive the 72 hour notice. Especially as the notice time could be when the banks are closed over the weekend.

For the second buyer, he must take a risk when there is a conditional offer already on a house. He has to invest money in a building inspection, get his mortgage approved and then sit and wait to see if the first buyer can get financing without selling their house or sell their house by the end of the 72 hours. Many buyers don’t want to go through the trouble unless it is their dream house, or they believe the first buyers can not fulfill financing without selling.

As a seller whose house is just new to the market or the market is hot, conditional offers are not ideal. A home that has been on the market for awhile it is a good option though. Sellers usual are not as negotiable when dealing with conditional offers, as they feel it is more like a first option to buy than a firm offer. So, when a second offer comes along that has normal, finance and building inspection conditions they often accept less money as they feel it is a real offer.

Be that as it may, you still have first dibs at the house and if the bank is willing you can get the key to your dream home! In the time from acceptance to the signing at the notary you may have the time to sell your present home, if the price is right!

Conditional offers are very common in a buyers market and could be the right option for you to get your dream home if handled properly!

**The foregoing provides only an and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.**