In the popular Netflix series, Ozark, a money laundering financial advisor has to relocate his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks. Moving is necessary to comply with a drug cartel’s grim threats. Desperate to find a home immediately, the family agrees to purchase a well-priced, outdated lake house with a unique contingency: The terminally-ill seller must be allowed to live in the basement until he passes.
Sure, the show is fiction. But in reality, this example of a contingency for home purchase is not completely far-fetched. Real estate transactions run the gamut in slightly unusual to off-the-wall contract clauses. In Maryland, for example, a seller warned buyers that their elderly dog came with the house. They felt it most important for the dog to die in its long-time home. On the flip side, buyers have made offers with the contingency that the seller include their pet with the sale! Of course, offers can be countered or declined.
Odd Conditions from Sellers
Singer and actress Liza Minnelli found herself in a very publicized lawsuit in the early 2000s after her deceased father bequeathed his Beverly Hills mansion to her. When Liza tried to sell the home where her step-mother still lived, Lee Minnelli brought a lawsuit against her. She insisted she had a right to stay in the home, even though Liza was willing to buy her a condo. The buyers involved in the sale then claimed Liza reneged on their deal. By the end of a drawn-out legal battle, 95-year-old Lee won the right to stay and the buyers had to purchase the home at their original offer price with the contingency that they couldn’t move in until Lee died or left voluntarily, and with Liza paying Lee’s rent to the new owners.*
In Washington, a Realtor worked with buyer clients who received an unusual counteroffer. Perhaps the back and forth negotiations hit a nerve with the sellers. The couple decided that three Japanese maple trees would not convey with the property. The buyers wanted the house badly enough that they accepted, so the sellers uprooted the trees and replanted them at their new residence.
In another example from Maryland, a woman moved into an old home and discovered what she considered supernatural activity, such as slightly out of place furniture and blinking lights. Under the advice of her own “ghostbusters,” she contacted the former owners and asked for some of the original furniture to be returned to a particular room. Apparently the ghost wanted them back. Although they had no legal obligation to do so, the former owners complied! Upon selling the home, she disclosed her belief in the ghost presence and stipulated the previous owner’s furniture would convey with the property whether the new owner wanted to keep them or not.
Surprising Conditions from Buyers
Buyers come up with some of their own startling contingencies, too. In competitive markets where multiple offers are common, some buyers write in clauses that include $10- to $20,000 or more cash signing bonuses if a seller accepts their offer the same day. This definitely puts the pressure on!
A buyer in the Pacific Northwest was ready to purchase a condo. She waived her right to an inspection, but she included a contingency with her offer that a feng shui specialist needed to give a favorable opinion on the space’s energy first. The specialist gave the thumbs up and the property was sold.
Of course, the more common contingencies on both sides of a transaction involve requests for repairs, closing cost coverage or other compensation, as well as the occupancy date. But ask any agent who’s been in the business a while and they will likely have at least one strange story to tell.
*Photo shows the once great Minnelli Beverly Hills mansion that stood decayed for years after Lee Minnelli’s death. The new owners never moved in. Photo credit: Eric Lothrop.