How to Make a Strong Offer When You Haven't Sold Yet

You found the house. It checks every box. The neighborhood is right, the layout works, the price is where you need it to be. There's one problem: you haven't sold your current home yet.

This is one of the most common positions move-up buyers in Marysville and Union County find themselves in — and it's one of the most stressful. In a market where well-priced homes go under contract in about a week, you don't have the luxury of putting your home on the market, waiting for offers, and then writing on the new place. By the time you're ready, it's gone.

There are real strategies for this situation. None of them are magic, but all of them work better than hoping the timing works itself out.

Why a contingent offer is harder than it sounds

A contingent offer — where your purchase depends on your current home selling first — is the most straightforward tool available to move-up buyers. The problem is that sellers know what it means: if your home doesn't sell, or takes longer than expected, their home is tied up and they may miss other buyers.

In a competitive market, a seller with multiple offers will almost always choose the cleaner one. Even a slightly lower offer with no contingencies can beat a higher contingent offer. That doesn't mean contingencies never work — they do, especially when a seller isn't fielding multiple offers or the market is slower for that price range. But going in contingent without a plan is going in weak.

Step one: be sell-ready before you write the offer

The single most effective thing you can do is get your current home ready to list before you write an offer on the new one. When your home is decluttered, repaired, staged, and professionally photographed — and you can be on the MLS within 24 hours of deciding to go — a contingency becomes much less risky for a seller to accept.

"Our home is ready to list and will be active within 48 hours of acceptance" is a fundamentally different contingency than "we need to get our home ready, listed, and sold first." One sounds like a week. One sounds like three months. Sellers feel that difference, and so do their agents. I walk through exactly how to get to that point in my post on whether to sell first or buy first in Marysville — that's the foundation for everything in this post.

How to make a contingent offer more attractive

If you're going in contingent, the other terms need to compensate for the added risk you're asking the seller to take. A few levers worth using:

• Stronger earnest money. A larger earnest money deposit signals commitment and gives the seller more confidence you're serious. In Union County, standard earnest money runs 1% of the purchase price. Going to 2–3% on a contingent offer changes the perception.
• Short contingency window. Offer a tight timeline — 30 days or less for your home to go under contract. If you're already sell-ready, this is realistic. A 60 or 90-day contingency window gives a seller too much anxiety.
• Kick-out clause acceptance. Some sellers will accept a contingent offer if they retain the right to continue showing the home and "kick out" your contingency with short notice (typically 48–72 hours) if they receive another offer. This protects them and keeps your offer in play. Be ready to either waive the contingency or walk if that notice comes.
• Flexible closing date. If you can accommodate the seller's preferred timeline — whether that's a quick close or an extended one — use it. Sellers remember the offer that made their life easy.

Bridge loans and HELOCs — buying time between closes

If your finances allow it, a bridge loan lets you borrow against the equity in your current home to fund the down payment on the new one — without waiting for your home to sell. You close on the new home, then sell the old one and pay off the bridge loan from the proceeds.

The appeal is obvious: you can write a clean, non-contingent offer. The trade-off is cost — bridge loans carry higher interest rates than standard mortgages, and you're carrying two properties for a period of time. If your home sells quickly (which a sell-ready home in Marysville's market tends to do), the cost is manageable. If it sits, the carrying costs add up.

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) works similarly if you have significant equity and your lender will allow it. Talk to your lender before you start shopping — knowing your options in advance means you can move faster when you find the right house.

Cash offer programs

A newer category of financing tools lets move-up buyers make a cash offer on the new home while their current home is still listed. The general structure: a program fronts you the cash to purchase the new property, you list and sell your current home, then repay the program from the proceeds. This removes the contingency entirely and puts you on equal footing with cash buyers.

These programs vary in structure, fees, and availability. Some are offered through lenders, others through specialized companies. If you're in a situation where a contingency would likely kill an offer on a house you really want, it's worth asking your agent and lender whether a program like this makes sense for your numbers.

What your agent needs to know about the seller

Every offer situation is different, and the right structure depends on what the seller actually needs — not just what you want to offer. A seller who already has a home under contract and needs a quick close has different priorities than one who is flexible on timing. A seller who has been on the market for three weeks is in a different mindset than one who just listed yesterday.

This is where your agent's job matters most. Before you write the offer, I make it a point to understand the seller's situation as much as possible. Are they getting multiple offers? What's their timeline? Is the contingency a dealbreaker or a negotiation? That information shapes the offer more than almost anything else. My buyer resources page covers the full purchase process if you want the bigger picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will sellers in Marysville, Ohio accept a contingent offer?

Some will, some won't — it depends on their situation and whether they have competing offers. A contingent offer paired with a sell-ready home, strong earnest money, and a short contingency window is far more likely to be accepted than a vague one. In a multiple-offer situation, contingencies are a significant disadvantage. Your agent's read on the specific seller and market moment matters more than a general rule.

What is a bridge loan and how does it work for home buyers in Ohio?

A bridge loan is a short-term loan secured by your current home's equity that gives you funds to purchase a new home before your old one sells. Once your current home closes, you pay off the bridge loan from the proceeds. They typically carry higher interest rates than standard mortgages and run 6–12 months. Whether one makes sense depends on your equity, timeline, and the cost relative to the home you're trying to buy.

How much earnest money should I offer as a move-up buyer in Union County?

Standard earnest money in Union County runs around 1% of the purchase price. As a move-up buyer going in contingent, offering 2–3% signals stronger commitment and can help offset the seller's concern about the contingency. Talk to your agent before you decide — the right number depends on the price point, the seller's situation, and how competitive the offer needs to be.

Let's build your offer strategy before you need it

The worst time to figure out your offer strategy is when you're standing in a house you want to buy. The best time is now, before you start shopping — when there's no pressure and every option is still on the table. If you're a homeowner in Marysville or Union County thinking about a move, call or text me and we'll map out what your situation actually looks like, what your home is likely to do in this market, and how to put yourself in the strongest possible position when the right house comes along.

Jim West
REALTOR® | Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert (CDRE)
The Jim West Team | Marysville, Ohio & Union County
Call or text: (614) 507-5732
jimwestteam.com