The Hidden Costs of Contingent Buyers
Every builder knows the frustration: a qualified buyer loves your home, they're pre-approved, ready to sign — but they need to sell their existing home first.
What happens next is a waiting game that costs you more than you might realize.
The Direct Costs
Carrying costs: Every month a home sits unsold costs money. At $50,000+ per month for a typical new build, a 60-day contingency window can cost $100,000 before the deal even closes.
Opportunity cost: While you're waiting on a contingent buyer, other qualified buyers may come and go. That spec home could have sold three times over.
Staff time: Your sales team spends hours managing contingent buyers, following up on their home sale, and hoping the deal doesn't fall through.
The Fall-Through Factor
Industry data suggests that 30% of contingent deals never close. That means for every three contingent buyers you accept, one will likely fall through — sending you back to square one.
A Better Approach
What if you could convert contingent buyers into cash-ready buyers before they ever write an offer?
That's exactly what programs like HomeLight Buy Before You Sell do. The buyer's equity gets unlocked, they make a clean offer, and you close on your timeline.
No contingency. No waiting. No risk.
The Bottom Line
Contingent buyers aren't bad buyers — they're often great buyers stuck in a bad situation. The solution isn't to turn them away. It's to give them a path to become cash-ready.
That's what ClearClose does for our builder partners.