CA Agents: Do All Offers Require a Contingency Removal?

[Jim Witten]

With standard CAR Forms....I'm trying to understand what establishes a buyer contingency on the buyers purchase offer? Is it simply Line 14.b as seen in the screenshot below, that's it?

Do purchase offers always require a CONTINGENCY REMOVAL form to be signed by the buyer after the X amount of days are up in line 14.b?

(California CAR form)

[Will Barnard]

Originally posted by @Jim Witten:

Originally posted by @Will Barnard:

Section 14 B of the CAR purchase agreement to s one of several potential buyer contingencies. This section is an inspection contingency and for this and any and all other buyer contingencies, it requires a buyers release of contingencies signed by buyer for each contingency they have. Within that CAR form, there is a checkbox for buyers release of “ALL” contingencies. In some cases when I make offers as an investor, I will often sign and send the full release of contingencies with my offer to make it stronger than others. 

Okay, thanks so much. I do see the "REMOVAL OF CONTINGENCIES WITH OFFER" box you are referring to. That certainly would make the offer more enticing to a seller.

I just wanted to make sure that if I as the buyer(just as an example) got into contract and found more issues with the property than I expected, I can legally cancel and walk away within the 14.b listed time frame.

If you release all contingencies with offer, then you don’t get the 14 B inspection timeframe so the answer is no, if you find more items, you are stuck with them. You only release them once you have done a full inspection to uncover any hidden items first. In the cases where I have released all contingencies with offer, it was typically in a deal where I was demolishing most of the structure so the condition didn’t matter. I also make sure to check for sewer line issues, termites, lead/asbestos, and other big ticket items like roofs, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. If I am not demolishing most of the home, I make sure I complete my due diligence on these items prior to releasing all contingencies.