When we were making our offer, our realtor suggested that we put it in our offer letter as a contingency.  

A cash buyer came in offering to buy property with no inspection contingency.  

You have your contingencies in place in your offer to let you back out if it is a disaster, or you make modifications to the offer based on the new information you get during inspection.

Make the contract contingent on your inspection.

Just curious with all the developers out there if "creative contingencies" are still available. 

If you really think you have a good chance and homes aren't being snapped up quickly you can try doing it every now and again.My advice would be to put in an offer contingent on an inspection.

Always tell a seller "your property would bring x on the open market but if you want a solid deal today without contingencies I will pay y".

Absolutely take your friend Realtor, she would be a buyer's agent so know what the commission will be on your side of any transaction.You Realtor knows the legal requirements, should know if the WH is blowing smoke and what contract contingencies are acceptable and what is hog wash, not to mention knowing how to value the deal.

If the sign is what makes the deal so appealing, then make sure that your deal is made contingent upon getting approval from the local planning depts.  

But cash with POF, offering price and ability to close with minimum contingencies makes the strongest offer.