The Utah seller's guide
Accepting a contingent offer as a Utah seller.
A buyer wants your home, but on one condition: their purchase depends on selling the home they already own first. That is a sale contingency, and the question it puts to you is real. Do you take a good offer that is tied to a house you cannot see or control, or do you hold out for a buyer who is ready to go with no strings? The answer is not the same for every seller. It turns on how active your market is, how far along the buyer's own home already is, and one piece of paperwork that decides whether saying yes ever really takes you off the market. Here is how a contingent offer works from the seller's chair, and how to weigh one honestly.
This is the seller's side of the deal. The buyer's view of the same offer lives on the contingent-offer guide.
On this page
The short answer
Should you take a contingent offer?
A contingent offer is not automatically a bad deal, and it is not automatically a good one either. When a buyer conditions their purchase on selling the home they already own, whether that offer is worth taking comes down to three things: how hot your market is, how far along the buyer's own home already is, and whether you keep a time clause that lets you go on marketing yours and step back to a better offer if one arrives. Accept a contingent offer with those protections in a slower market, from a buyer whose home is already under contract, and you may have a strong, motivated buyer. Accept one with no protection in a busy market, from a buyer whose home is not even listed yet, and you have taken your home off the market for a sale that may never happen.
The instinct to reject every contingent offer is understandable, but it can cost you a real buyer. The instinct to grab one because the price looks good can cost you weeks. The right move sits in the middle: know exactly what you are being asked to carry, protect your timeline with the right addendum, and weigh the offer honestly against the odds of a cleaner one coming along. The rest of this page walks what a contingent offer actually asks of you, the time clause that protects you, when saying yes makes sense and when it does not, and how to structure a yes so you are never truly off the market.
What it asks of you
A sale you cannot see, tied to yours.
In Utah, a purchase runs on the state's standard Real Estate Purchase Contract, the REPC. Early in that contract the buyer answers whether their ability to purchase is conditioned on selling real estate they already own. When the answer is yes, a Subject to Sale of Buyer's Property Addendum attaches, and it spells out the terms of that sale: which home the buyer is selling, whether it is already listed or under contract, and the deadline by which their sale has to close for yours to go through. Reading that addendum is the first thing to do, because it tells you how much real risk you are being asked to take on.
What a contingent offer really asks is for you to tie the sale of your home to the sale of a home you cannot see, price, show, or control. If the buyer's home does not sell, or sells slowly, or falls apart in its own inspection, your closing slides with it or collapses entirely. That is the honest risk, and it is why a contingent offer is a weaker position than a clean one at the same price. It is also why the details in that addendum matter so much. A contingency on a home already under contract with a firm closing date is a very different animal from one on a home the buyer has not even put up for sale. Any legal question about the addendum or the contract belongs with your agent and, where needed, a real estate attorney.
The time clause
The clause that keeps you on the market.
Here is the part that changes a contingent offer from a gamble into a manageable deal. When the buyer's purchase is conditioned on selling their own home, Utah's contract lets you attach an Option to Keep Property on Market, commonly called a time clause or a bump clause. With it in place, accepting the contingent offer does not take your home off the market. You keep it listed, you keep showing it, and you keep taking offers. The contingent buyer is first in line, but the line stays open.
The time clause is your safety valve. If a stronger offer comes in while the first buyer is still trying to sell their home, you notify the first buyer and start a short clock, often around 24 to 72 hours, though the exact window is negotiable and written into the addendum. Within that window the first buyer either removes their sale contingency and commits to buying your home anyway, or they step aside and you move forward with the new offer. Both outcomes work in your favor. You either convert a soft buyer into a firm one, or you free your home for a better deal without having lost any marketing time. The one thing you should not do is accept a contingent offer without this protection, because that is the version that quietly takes you off the market for weeks with nothing to show for it.
When to say yes
When a yes makes sense, and when it does not.
A contingent offer is not good or bad on its own; it is a fit or it is not, and a handful of factors decide it. Here is how the same offer reads from your chair depending on the market and the buyer. None of these is a hard rule, but together they tell you which way to lean.
| The factor | Lean toward yes | Lean toward no |
|---|---|---|
| Your local market | Slower, fewer buyers calling | Hot, with clean offers competing |
| The buyer's home | Already listed or under contract | Not yet up for sale |
| Your price | The offer meets your number | You give up price for the wait |
| Your timeline | You have room to be patient | You need a firm closing date |
| The time clause | Included, with a tight window | Missing or long and loose |
Saying yes safely
How to accept one without getting stuck.
If a contingent offer is worth taking, the goal is to say yes in a way that keeps every advantage on your side. Here is the order I work through with a seller.
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Read the buyer's home situation first
Before anything else, find out where the buyer's own home stands. Already under contract with a firm closing date is close to a normal sale. Freshly listed is a longer bet. Not yet up for sale is the riskiest of all. The Subject to Sale of Buyer's Property Addendum should tell you, and it changes everything that follows.
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Insist on a time clause
Only accept a contingent offer that keeps your home on the market with an Option to Keep Property on Market. This is the one term I treat as non-negotiable. Without it you are truly off the market; with it you are still fielding offers. Reviewing offers.
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Set the bump window tight
The time clause gives the buyer a set window to remove their contingency once you notify them of a better offer. Keep it short, commonly around 24 to 72 hours, so a stronger deal is never held up long. That window is negotiable, so negotiate it.
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Protect your closing date
Tie the deal to a realistic settlement deadline and do not move your own next step, whether that is buying again or relocating, until the buyer removes their contingency. Treat their timeline as unconfirmed until it is firm in writing. The selling process.
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Keep marketing as if it were live
Keep the listing active, keep showing, and keep the online exposure fresh. A contingent contract with a time clause is a reason to market harder, not to relax, because a backup offer is exactly what turns a soft deal into a firm one.
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Get it in writing, and get advice where it is legal
Every piece of this belongs in the contract and its addenda, not in a conversation. Your agent assembles the paperwork, and any legal question about the contingency or the deadlines goes to a real estate attorney. Back to the selling hub.
Weighing it with me
An agent who reads the offer and the odds.
Here is the part a guide cannot do for you. Whether a contingent offer is worth taking depends on your market and how the deal is built, and it helps to have one person who has weighed both across this area.
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Twenty years living in Southern Utah. I have listed and sold homes across Iron and Washington counties through busy markets and slow ones. I can tell you honestly whether a contingent offer is a smart bet on your home right now or a way to lose weeks.
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Agent and lender, one read. I am licensed in both. When a contingent buyer's own sale depends on financing, I can read that side of the deal the way a lender does and gauge how likely their home is to actually close. I take one role on your sale and never both at once.
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The time clause, done right. I structure a contingent acceptance so your home stays on the market, the bump window is tight, and your closing date is protected. You keep every advantage while the buyer does the work of selling their home.
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Statewide, told straight. In Southern Utah I am your agent. Anywhere else in Utah, I connect you with a vetted partner agent I trust in your area and stay involved.
Questions, answered
What sellers ask about contingent offers.
It depends on three things: how active your market is, how far along the buyer's own home already is, and whether you keep a time clause. In a slower market, from a buyer whose home is already under contract, a contingent offer with a time clause can be a solid deal. In a busy market with clean offers competing, or from a buyer whose home is not yet listed, it is usually worth passing or countering. The one rule that holds every time is to never accept a contingent offer that takes your home off the market.
A time clause, sometimes called a bump clause, lets you keep your home listed and keep taking offers after you accept a contingent offer. If a stronger offer comes in, you notify the first buyer and start a short clock. They either remove their sale contingency and commit to buying your home anyway, or they step aside and you take the new offer. It means accepting a contingent offer never truly takes you off the market, which is the whole reason to use one.
If you kept a time clause, you notify the contingent buyer that a stronger offer has arrived, which starts their response window, often around 24 to 72 hours. Within that window they decide whether to remove their contingency and buy your home regardless of their own sale, or to release the contract so you can move forward with the new buyer. Either way you come out ahead, because you have turned a soft buyer firm or freed your home for a better deal without losing marketing time.
Yes. Two offers at the same price are not equal if one depends on the buyer selling another home first and the other does not. The contingent offer ties your sale to a property you cannot control, so it carries more risk of delay or collapse. That does not make it worthless, especially with a time clause in place, but when you compare offers you should weigh certainty alongside price rather than looking at the number alone.
Sometimes yes, especially in a market where clean offers are coming in regularly, because a non-contingent buyer removes the biggest source of risk. But waiting has a cost too. If the contingent offer is strong on price, comes from a buyer whose home is already selling, and includes a time clause, holding out for a perfect offer can leave you worse off. The honest answer depends on how likely a cleaner offer is to arrive soon, which is a read on your specific market.
It matters more than almost anything else. A contingency on a home already under contract, with a firm closing date, is close to a normal sale and carries real weight. A contingency on a home that is listed but not yet sold is a longer bet. A contingency on a home the buyer has not even put up for sale is the weakest of all, and it is the one most sellers should decline. Always read the addendum to see exactly where the buyer's home stands.
Keep exploring
Have a contingent offer in front of you?
I am Scott Buehler, and I have helped sellers across Southern Utah weigh contingent offers for what they really are, not just the price on the front page. Send me the offer and tell me where your home stands, and I will read the addendum, the time clause, and the odds of the buyer's own sale with you, so you can tell a deal worth taking from a way to lose weeks. No pressure, and no obligation to list.
Not in Southern Utah? I will connect you with a partner agent I trust in your area, and stay involved.