Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here

Join Over 3 Million Real Estate Investors

Create a free BiggerPockets account to comment, participate, and connect with over 3 million real estate investors.
Use your real name
By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.
The community here is like my own little personal real estate army that I can depend upon to help me through ANY problems I come across.
General Real Estate Investing
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

Updated about 6 years ago, 12/18/2018

User Stats

87
Posts
25
Votes
Jason Bilbrey
Pro Member
  • Investor
  • Stevens Point, WI
25
Votes |
87
Posts

Help! How to best incorporate "walk away" clause into offers?

Jason Bilbrey
Pro Member
  • Investor
  • Stevens Point, WI
Posted

I'm an avid listener of the Bigger Pockets podcast and reader of the various articles/blog entries. One of the things that I've heard many experienced investors suggest is to make sure your offer has a clause/contingency that allows you to walk away from the deal. I'm trying to incorporate that into my offers but my realtors tell me that they've never had _any_ investors have a clause. My realtors are suggesting that I use the inspection contingency.

The inspection contingency only let's me walk away from a deal for a safety issue or defect if the seller and I can't agree on what to fix.

What about for other factors though? Here are some examples:

1) After talking to the tenants I find out that they have a large dog and the nieghbors are constantly complaining and the current selllers haven't done anything about it.

2) Or maybe I find out they haven't paid their rent in 3 months and there are 8 months left on their lease. Sure, I could evict after I own the property, but maybe the cost of that makes the property no longer such a great deal. Or maybe I ask the sellers to evict before the property becomes mine (but technically nothing in my offer had such a clause so do I even have the right to ask for that without breaking my own legally accepted offer?)

3) Maybe I'm driving the neighborhood at night and find out its not a very good area and drastically different than daytime.

4) Or I'm talking to my contractor about some improvements I want to make and my estimates were much lower when I put in the offer and I find out something will be much more expensive than expected.

5) Another possibility is that after getting more access to the owner's books I find some surprising things that affect the NOI that I couldn't anticipate

There probably are countless other examples of things not covered by an inspection contingency...

How do other investors protect themselves in their offer letters? Instead of an inspection contingency, I'm thinking that make I just ask for a 10 day due diligence period where I can walk away for any reason (and get my earnest money back). I don't want to word it like that, so I'm hoping that others can share some examples of "walk away for any reason" clauses people include in their offers.

(I'm looking at property in Wisconsin if that matters and someone has specific knowledge of real estate rules there, but otherwise any examples from other investors would be _greatly_ appreciated!)

Loading replies...