Should a Seller Accept a Contingent Offer in the Richmond Area? What a Home-Sale Contingency Asks of You

Published October 18, 2026 | Written by the Mission Realty Team.

A contingent offer only becomes a firm sale if something else happens first. Here, that something is the sale of the buyer’s current home. For a seller in the City of Richmond, Henrico County or Chesterfield County, the question is whether to accept one at all. Our short answer: it can be reasonable when you have no fixed move date, the buyer’s home is already listed, and the contract lets you keep marketing yours. It is a poor fit when you have a closing date you cannot move, because a stranger’s sale now sits between you and the closing table.

What a home-sale contingency asks of you

You agree to hold your home for a buyer whose ability to close depends on selling theirs. In the NVAR addendum, the contract stays contingent on the sale of the buyer’s property until a deadline counted in days after the contract is ratified. If the buyer has not satisfied, amended or removed the contingency by then, the contract becomes void. In the copy we read, the blanks for days, addresses and prices were empty and the terms apply only if the parties initial them, so every number is a point you negotiate.

The trade: you may get an offer you like, and you take on risk you cannot control, because the buyer’s home has to be priced right, shown well and bought by someone whose loan holds together. We wrote the buyer’s side of this in how to buy a Richmond home with a contingent sale; this post is the other side of the table. Some buyers avoid asking sellers for a contingency at all by borrowing against their current home, which we compare in bridge loans, HELOCs and contingent offers compared.

The kick-out clause: how you keep selling while under contract

A kick-out clause is what makes a contingent contract workable for a seller. In the NVAR addendum, the seller may keep marketing the home and accept back-up offers. If the seller accepts one, the seller notifies the buyer, who then has a set number of days to satisfy or remove the contingency or the contract becomes void. The NAR consumer guide to contract contingencies describes the same pattern: a seller who accepts a home-sale contingency can keep showing the property, and if a fully unconditional offer arrives, the original buyers generally get the first chance to keep their deal by showing they can proceed without the contingency. The guide says this is typical, not universal.

First, the length of the notice window decides whether the clause is worth anything. A back-up buyer with a clean offer may not wait long, so a notice period that is too long protects the first buyer more than it protects you. Second, Virginia law does not require your agent to keep hunting for buyers once you are under contract. Under Code of Virginia section 54.1-2131, a licensee engaged by a seller must receive and present written offers and counteroffers in a timely manner, but is not obligated to seek additional offers while the property is subject to a contract of sale unless the brokerage agreement or the contract so provides. If you want active marketing to continue, put it in writing in the listing agreement or the contract.

The deadlines and conditions to read before you sign

Most of the protection for you is in details that look like boilerplate. In the NVAR addendum, these are the pieces to check, and the same questions apply to any contingent sale form:

• The contingency deadline. The number of days from ratification during which the buyer must sell, satisfy, amend or remove the contingency.
• The listing deadline and price cap. The buyer’s property must be listed with a licensed broker and entered in an MLS within a set number of days after ratification, at a price not to exceed a stated amount.
• How the buyer clears the contingency. Either by delivering a ratified contract on their home showing that all contingencies other than financing and appraisal have been removed or waived, or by removing it with a lender letter confirming that financing does not depend on a home sale and funds are available, or with proof of funds to close without financing.
• Settlement coordination. After the contingency is satisfied, the contract can stay contingent on the buyer’s sale closing. Settlement cannot be pushed beyond a set number of days without written consent, and if coordinating the two closings causes more delay, the buyer may void the contract in writing.

Nothing in that list guarantees the buyer’s home sells. It only tells you when you will find out, and in the NVAR clause the buyer must promptly tell you, with proof, if their sale falls through.

What happens if the buyer’s home does not sell

Under the clause as written, if the deadline passes without the contingency being satisfied, the contract becomes void and you are free to sell to someone else. The NAR guide says that when a contingency is not satisfied within the contract’s period, either side may cancel without penalty, as long as both acted in good faith. The contract’s deposit terms decide who keeps the deposit, so read them before signing.

Then you are back to marketing a home that was off the market, or only partly on it, for several weeks. If your listing needs to be repriced, our guide to when to cut the price on a Richmond listing covers how to decide when and by how much. If you are buying your next home at the same time, bridge loans, HELOCs and contingent offers compared lays out what each financing route does to your timeline.

How to compare a contingent offer with a clean one

Price is only one line. Before you answer, ask the buyer’s side for these items in writing, and ask your agent to confirm what can be checked:

• Is the buyer’s home listed now, with what MLS entry date, and who is the listing broker?
• Does the buyer’s home already have an accepted offer, and if so, what contingencies remain on that contract?
• Does the buyer’s loan depend on proceeds from the sale, or does a lender letter show it does not?
• How long is the contingency window, and will the buyer accept a kick-out with a short notice period?

If a contingent offer is one of several bids on the table, weigh it as you would any other offer, with the extra time risk priced in; our post on how sellers should evaluate multiple offers walks through the comparison.

Keeping your home on the market and showable

If you accept, nothing about the work of selling stops. Keep the home in showing condition and the listing active and current. Buyers searching in the City of Richmond or the surrounding counties can still find it through our Richmond area property search, which is also the quickest way to see what else is competing with your home right now.

For how we approach listing and marketing, our sell with us page explains it.

When to say yes, and when to counter or pass

Say yes, or counter on friendly terms, when you have no fixed move date, the buyer’s home is listed or about to be, the window is short, and a kick-out is included. Counter when the idea is sound but the terms are loose: ask for a shorter window, a firm listing deadline, proof of listing and a kick-out with short notice. Pass when you have a firm purchase elsewhere that cannot move, when the buyer’s home is not yet listed and has no plan to be, or when the buyer will not accept any kick-out.

Frequently asked questions