Short answer: Maybe — but I’d want to know a whole lot more about the buyer’s house before saying yes.

An offer can look great on paper.

Good price.

Good financing.

Closing date works.

Then you get to this part:

The buyer has to sell their current home before they can buy yours.

That doesn’t automatically make it a bad offer.

But it does mean your sale may now depend on their sale.

And that adds another moving part.

What Is a Home-Sale Contingency?

A home-sale contingency generally means the buyer needs to sell their current property in order to complete the purchase of yours.

Freddie Mac explains that this type of contingency normally gives the buyer a certain amount of time to sell their existing home. From the seller’s side, it adds risk because there’s no guarantee that the buyer’s property will sell within that time.

That’s the part I care about.

You may have a perfectly marketable Smithfield home.

But now whether we get to closing could depend partly on a house in Suffolk, Chesapeake, Newport News — or somewhere else entirely.

So before I tell a seller whether I like the offer, I want to know what we’re attaching ourselves to.

The First Thing I’d Ask: Is Their Home Already Under Contract?

This can make a big difference.

There’s a world of difference between:

Buyer A: “We need to sell our house, but we haven’t listed it yet.”

and

Buyer B: “Our house is already under contract and scheduled to close in three weeks.”

Those are both technically buyers who need to sell another property.

But the risk isn’t the same.

If their home isn’t even on the market yet, I’m going to have a lot more questions.

If it’s already under contract, I want to know how far along that transaction is.

Has the inspection happened?

Has the appraisal happened?

Is financing moving along?

Are there problems?

The farther along their sale is, the more comfortable I may be.

What If Their House Is Listed but Hasn’t Sold?

Then I want to look at the listing.

How long has it been on the market?

Is it priced reasonably?

Are they getting showings?

Have they reduced the price?

Is it the type of property that usually sells pretty easily?

I don’t need to become their listing agent.

But if my seller’s closing now depends on that home selling, I certainly care about what’s happening with it.

Suppose their house has been listed for 90 days with almost no activity and is priced $40,000 above similar homes.

That matters.

On the other hand, if it hit the market three days ago, is priced well and has a weekend full of showings scheduled, that’s a very different situation.

Does a Contingent Offer Mean I Have to Stop Marketing My Home?

Not necessarily.

This depends on the actual language of the contract.

Freddie Mac notes that a home-sale contingency may allow a seller to continue marketing the property while the buyer tries to sell theirs.

But this is one of those areas where I’m not going to make assumptions.

The contract controls.

We need to know exactly what we’re agreeing to before we sign it.

Can we continue showing the property?

What happens if another buyer comes along?

How long does the first buyer have?

What has to happen before their contingency goes away?

Those details matter.

Should I Take a Lower Offer Without the Contingency Instead?

Possibly.

This is exactly why I don’t compare offers based only on the price at the top.

Let’s say you receive:

Offer A

$425,000

But the buyer must sell their home first.

Offer B

$418,000

Their financing is lined up and they don’t have a home to sell.

Which one is better?

We don’t know yet.

Maybe Offer A is worth taking.

Maybe that extra $7,000 isn’t enough to justify the added risk.

We need to look at the entire offer.

The highest number isn’t always the safest deal.

And the safest deal isn’t automatically the best one either.

The same thing is true when an offer comes in below asking price — the number alone doesn’t tell the whole story.

Does Today’s Hampton Roads Market Change the Decision?

It can.

REIN reported 6,120 active residential listings across Hampton Roads in August 2026, up 7.2% from a year earlier. Median days on market was 27 days.

Buyers have more choices than they did a year ago.

That doesn’t mean Smithfield sellers should accept every contingency that comes along.

But it does mean I wouldn’t throw away a solid buyer simply because their offer has an extra moving part.

We weigh the risk against the opportunity.

That’s the job.

What If Their Buyer Backs Out?

This is where one transaction can start affecting another.

Your buyer is buying your house.

Their buyer is buying theirs.

If something goes wrong with the house below yours in that chain, it may affect your transaction too.

Maybe their buyer has an inspection issue.

Maybe their financing falls apart.

Maybe their appraisal comes in low.

Now suddenly your buyer may have a problem completing their purchase.

That’s why I like to understand as much as possible about the other transaction before recommending that my seller tie their sale to it.

What If I Need My Sale to Buy My Next House Too?

Now we’ve got a chain.

Your buyer needs to sell their home to buy yours.

And you need to sell yours to buy the next one.

It can work.

People do it all the time.

But we now have several transactions that need to line up.

That makes good communication and realistic deadlines really important.

This is where the plan we talked about in selling your current home before buying your next one becomes even more important.

Would I Automatically Reject a Home-Sale Contingency?

No.

Not even close.

There are plenty of situations where I’d tell a seller:

“I’m comfortable with this.”

Maybe the buyer’s house is already under contract.

Maybe their property is very marketable.

Maybe the price and other terms are strong enough to justify the risk.

Maybe your home has been sitting for a while and this is otherwise a very good offer.

On the other hand, I may look at their situation and say:

“I don’t love this.”

Maybe their home isn’t listed.

Maybe it appears overpriced.

Maybe the contingency is too open-ended.

Maybe we have another buyer without that risk.

There’s no automatic answer.

What I’d Tell a Smithfield Seller Sitting Across the Table From Me

If a buyer needs to sell their home before buying yours, don’t reject the offer just because you see the word contingency.

But don’t ignore it either.

Let’s find out:

• Is their home already listed?
• Is it under contract?
• How far along is that sale?
• Is their property priced reasonably?
• How much time are they asking for?
• Can we continue marketing your home?
• What happens if another offer comes in?
• How good is the rest of their offer?

Then we decide.

Sometimes I’ll say:

“I’d take it.”

Sometimes:

“Let’s tighten up the terms.”

And sometimes:

“I think we have too much risk here.”

The point is to understand what we’re agreeing to before your sale starts depending on somebody else’s sale.

Thinking About Selling Your Home?

If you’re thinking about selling in Smithfield, Isle of Wight, Carrollton, Suffolk or elsewhere in Hampton Roads, I’m happy to talk through the kinds of offers you may see before you ever put the house on the market.

Call or text me at 757-880-7061 or email me at [email protected].

Ask me anything. We’ll talk it through in plain English.

Jason Goodin
Principal Broker
Virginia 1st Realty Group

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I accept an offer contingent on the buyer selling their home?

Maybe. I’d want to know whether their home is listed, under contract, priced well and how much time they’re asking for before deciding.

Is a home-sale contingency risky for the seller?

It can add risk because your closing may depend on the buyer successfully selling another property first.

Can I keep showing my home after accepting a contingent offer?

Possibly, depending on the exact contract language. This is something I’d want clearly understood before accepting the offer.

Is a lower non-contingent offer better than a higher contingent offer?

Sometimes. Price is only one part of an offer. You also need to consider financing, contingencies, timing and the likelihood of actually reaching closing.

What if the buyer’s house doesn’t sell?

What happens depends on the terms of the contract and contingency. That’s why the deadline and exact wording matter before you agree.