You probably aren’t feeling that sellers are vulnerable in this current market; however, even if they are receiving more equity than some of those appraisals are guaranteeing, seeing buyers pay that gap, or having the luxury of all-cash offers, where the vulnerability may lie, is in the buying of a new property. As a Listing Agent, are you making sure to develop a good conversation plan, and/or contingency conversation about the purchase of their new property? We are seeing a bit of an uptick in problems arising on the “legs” of these multiple level transactions, and the possibility that without such a contingency, your seller could become homeless.
Talk to your broker and make a plan of how you are proceeding in order to complete your fiduciary duties for your seller, and their sale and their purchases, so they have a place to go. Consider the options that without that protection, they could refuse to move and leave the new buyer having to go through an eviction, while having no place to move, and the ripple effect it may have. Lawsuits and evictions are time-consuming and create tensions no one needs if it is all preventable through contractual agreements of understanding.