South Shore Real Estate Experts | Best Realtor Quincy & South Shore
South Shore Real Estate Experts | Best Realtor Quincy & South Shore
- When three offers came in at the same price, the winning detail had nothing to do with the number itself
- Waiving a financing contingency can put a financed buyer on nearly equal footing with a cash offer
- Sellers can honor their personal values AND protect their financial interests when their agent explains the full picture
When a property in the Wessagusset area drew 14 offers, the sellers had what looked like a simple problem: too many good choices. But Hillary Birch, who has spent 15 years working the South Shore market neighborhood by neighborhood, knew the real work was just beginning.
"One of the things with my job is explaining every offer to the sellers," Hillary says, "to make sure they really understand the differentials, because there are very specific details that make one offer more desirable than another."
In this case, the top three offers all landed at the same number, in the mid-seven figures. Same price. Three completely different risk profiles. And that difference, invisible on the surface, was everything.
The sellers were drawn to one of the financed offers. The buyers seemed like a nice family, and the sellers felt strongly about passing the home to people who would live in it rather than turn it into a short-term rental. In a housing market where young families regularly lose out to investors with deep pockets, that mattered to them.
But that particular offer came with a mortgage contingency, a detailed home inspection contingency, and a longer timeline for the financing commitment. More conditions meant more time, and more ways the deal could fall apart before closing.
A cash offer from an investor sat alongside it at the exact same price. Cash offers move fast. No appraisal requirement. No lender timeline. No financing contingency. The sellers understood the appeal, but they had reservations about where that property would end up.
That left a third option, the one Hillary recommended.
The third offer was also financed. The buyers were getting a mortgage. But they had waived their financing contingency.
That distinction is worth unpacking. When a buyer waives their financing contingency, they are telling the seller: if our financing falls through for any reason, we lose our deposit. We are not walking away protected. We are fully committed.
In this transaction, that deposit was over $50,000. A five percent earnest money deposit on a mid-seven-figure purchase is not a number most buyers walk away from lightly. Sellers understand that immediately.
Hillary Birch helps Boston professionals relocate to South Shore communities like Quincy, Weymouth, and Hingham, and she has seen this strategy gain traction across all buyer types. "Most sellers understand that these people are going to do anything they can to close, because they don't want to lose their $50,000," she explains.
There is another layer to it. When offers come in well above asking price, appraisals can be a problem. Appraisers work from comparable sales, and if the comps do not support the purchase price, the lender may not either. That can unravel a deal even after a buyer has been approved. But because this offer included no financing contingency, the appraisal question was also taken off the table.
The sellers got what they wanted: a family buyer who was committed enough to put serious money at risk, with a streamlined path to closing that looked a lot more like a cash deal than a traditional financed one.
Hillary Birch is a 15-year veteran Realtor recognized as Best of Quincy and Best of the South Shore, and she is seeing this strategy appear more frequently when she reviews multiple offers on behalf of sellers.
For buyers who feel shut out by cash competition, waiving a financing contingency is not the right move for everyone. It requires real financial confidence, ideally after completing full underwriting with your lender or having a thorough conversation with them about your standing. But for buyers who are in a strong position and want their offer to stand out, it can be a meaningful differentiator.
The Hillary Birch Group specializes in multi-unit property sales and income-generating real estate investments on Massachusetts' South Shore, but the same precision Hillary applies to investment transactions carries into every offer review, whether a client is buying a multi-family in Quincy or a single-family home they plan to raise a family in.
The right offer is rarely just about price.
Waiving a financing contingency means the buyer agrees that if their loan falls through, they will forfeit their deposit rather than being entitled to walk away. It signals a high level of commitment to closing and removes one of the most common ways a sale can fall apart after acceptance.
It carries real risk and is not the right move for every buyer. It makes the most sense for someone who has completed full underwriting with their lender and has strong confidence that their financing will come through. If there is any uncertainty about your loan approval, this strategy warrants a careful conversation with both your lender and your agent before proceeding.
Sellers have reasons beyond price and certainty. In this case, the sellers wanted to pass the home to a family rather than an investor. When a financed buyer waives their financing contingency and brings a strong deposit, the practical risk gap between cash and financing narrows considerably, and sellers may choose the offer that also aligns with their personal priorities.