“Why is Everything Contingent?”

I am the phone center “person” for the Big Island and therefore talk to a lot of perspective buyers calling for that personal touch to discuss buying property on the Big Island. One call this past week in particular really got me thinking…the gentleman asked, “why is everything showing up contingent?”

Contingent sales on the mainland, at least in Oregon and California where I have been licensed, means the buyer has to sell their own home prior to fulfilling the contract they are submitting on another property; therefore it is contingent upon a sale. In Hawaii a “contingent” offer is generally just subject to financing approval or an inspection. Therefore if you were to offer on a property which has a contingent offer already accepted, it would mean you would actually be placed in a backup position to the first offer.

So the reason you see so many properties marked as contingent is because the market is active and these properties have accepted offers.

Oh…and the gentleman that called in; he’s right…at least by the inventory on the West side of the Island where I live and work. Today in the MLS there were 32 new entries; 22 of which were either contingent” sales” or closed “sold” sales; 2 BOM (back on market) listings; 5 new listings and 2 price reductions on previously listed properties.  This is more activity than we have seen in months, and it is only 2:00p.m.

So…are we there yet??? If you are still sitting back and waiting for prices to drop, compare it to the stock market…it’s a gamble you may not be able to afford to lose.