You find a great home listing on the Internet, email your interest, and then get the words you don’t want to hear from your realtor: “Unfortunately this particular unit has just sold. These units are selling very quickly.”
This is, in fact, the reality in hot markets such as Myrtle Beach and other prime locations. You find another unit, and then discover it too just went under contract. Worse, it’s the last in your favorite price range, and prices are going up rapidly. You’d love to fly there and just get the next one available but you’ve been scheduled for a business trip this week. What do you do? How do you manage your own personal commitments such as work and travel when you are shopping for a vacation home in a very hot market?
If you are working with a first class Resort Area Specialist, they can actually create a solution. In markets such as these, the realtor can help you write a contingency contract based on site approval just to give you right of first refusal. This does not obligate you in any way but it holds the unit until you can see it to make a decision.
Basically what a contingency contract does is give the prospective buyer a right of first refusal. All offers must be presented, but a seller does not have to accept a contingency, some will and some won't. Sometimes they feel that if there is a contingency, other realtors won't show it. Some people will accept a contingency contract, but if another offer comes in the prospective buyer has between 48 and 72 hours to remove the contingency.
In very hot markets, some areas properties are getting two and three contracts per day. Some units are being sold, sight unseen, based on the pictures, info, rental history and info realtors can provide. With sites such as Escape Homes, prospective buyers can tap into a wealth of information and pictures of available properties, and put a contract on a property that might otherwise be inaccessible because of the geographic distance. Then working with a realtor who can offer creative solutions, you can take your trips and still buy the vacation home of your dreams, at your convenience.
For more information or to contact Tom or Lorrie O'Brien, click here