Backup Homebuyers

Wanna be a backup?  It’s a common question among Realtors these days.  So what are we talking about?  We have a shortage of inventory right now – not enough homes to sell for the buyers who are out there.  That means that there are often multiple offers when a hot property goes on the market.  It can be tough on the average homebuyer.  Say you have a loan, but one of the OTHER offers is all cash.  All other things being equal, cash is king and tough to beat.  Now, there are other ways to win in a multiple offer situation; perhaps money is not the only thing important to the seller.  The thing to do is to have your agent quiz the seller’s agent about what other terms would make the seller happy.  Perhaps they need a quick close – or perhaps they haven’t found a home to move to yet and need a longer close.  Maybe they need to “rent back” for some period of time.

In other instances, perhaps what is important to the Seller is bringing a great neighbor to a neighborhood they’ve known and loved.  In that instance, a letter from the buyer can make all the difference.  In fact, I recently had a client, a single mom looking for her first home purchase all on her own.  She fell in love with the “perfect” house and wrote a letter to the seller detailing all the reasons that she loved the home.  There were seven total offers on the house, and after we won the bid the listing agent told me that there were two other offers that were stronger and higher in price than ours was, but that the LETTER made the difference.  The letter touched the seller and convinced the seller that my buyer was the best buyer for the house.

But say you’ve tried the multiple offer strategies and you still lose out to another offer.  Perhaps the price went way over list and you offered less.   Maybe another buyer took out the appraisal contingency and you weren’t willing to that.  But you still loved the house.

THIS is where the backup offer comes in.   When another buyer wins the property you want, you can offer to “be the backup.” What that means is that you make an offer to the seller that if the first contract falls through, you are waiting in the wings and fall into the first position without the property ever coming back onto the market.  The backup offer, of course, has no legal effect until the seller signs it – at that point, it becomes the backup contract and is basically a right of first refusal for the backup buyer.

How it works is this – if the first contract falls through, the backup comes into effect when the seller notifies the second buyer that the first contract has fallen through.

So what’s in it for the seller?  Well, if a property comes BACK on the market after being under contract, others wonder “what’s wrong with it?”  There’s a certain stigma attached to a property that’s been under contract and that contract is terminated.  This is why you will see an agent write into such a listing something like “BUYER’S FINANCING FELL THROUGH” – the idea is to signal to future buyers that the contract termination has nothing to do with anything wrong with the house.  With a backup offer, the seller doesn’t have to risk any stigma attached to coming back ON the market.

For the buyer, of course, it’s a risk free proposition if there’s a due diligence period in the contract.  Most contracts in Georgia have a seven to ten day due diligence period during which the buyer can terminate for any reason or no reason at all.  So submitting such an offer as a backup is risk free.  Even if the contract becomes primary, the buyer can decide to terminate and get earnest money returned.

So how is it effectuated?  There’s a backup agreement exhibit in the Georgia Forms that’s used.  With the exhibit, the seller can sign because they are *not* selling the same property to two different buyers – they are granting an option to the second buyer should the first contract fall through.

With the due diligence period, the second buyer is able to terminate at any time, even before the backup contract moves into first position.  Thus, the backup buyer can continue to shop for a home and if they find the perfect place, simply terminate the backup contract.

 Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.