My excuse was fear.....of the unknown.

They are out to make money and to exploit the unknowning Landlord.

Sure ... buy something 100% financed ... but have cash available for the unknowns.

The housing market will turn around only when first time buyers can afford to move into housing, whether "afford" is persieved or real also plays into account the turn around in an unknown way.That is the basic crux of the housing market.

The down payment on 400-500K will eat up all savings and leave nothing for reserves to cover the unknown once we get in.

Saying you will do something in the future, like agreeing to sell a home, is a contingent liability to you, you have the liability to perform at an unknown time that may or may not come to pass making your liability contingent on performance of your buyer actually buying.

That's not to say I would need to have all of my financing locked and loaded before making any offer, just saying I've found it wise not to put the cart before the horse when the property has certain unknowns.

Usually, the contract is the contract except for out of the ordinary circumstances, unknown, unforeseen circumstances.

Some state others as John and Jane Doe, unknown parties.

Whether that makes economic sense is also unknown to us since the varables to assess the idea are not present.