Claudia Backus, MBA

Tag: Selling a Home

What Is a Contingency in a Real Estate Offer? What California Home Sellers Should Understand

Receiving an offer on your home can be exciting, especially when the price looks good. It is natural for a seller’s attention to go immediately to that number, but the purchase price is only one part of an offer.

The terms of the offer matter too, and contingencies are among the terms sellers should understand before deciding how strong an offer really is.

A contingency generally gives a buyer the ability to move forward with the purchase subject to certain conditions. Depending on the terms of the contract, those conditions may involve the buyer’s investigation of the property, financing, an appraisal, or other circumstances addressed in the agreement.

For a seller, understanding those contingencies can make it easier to evaluate an offer as a whole rather than looking at the purchase price alone.

Why Contingencies Matter to a Seller

When a seller accepts an offer, the transaction begins moving toward closing, but that does not necessarily mean every uncertainty has disappeared.

A buyer may still have important steps to complete during the transaction. The buyer may investigate the condition of the property, work with a lender to obtain financing, or have the property appraised.

The specific rights and obligations of the parties depend on the contract they sign, which is why sellers should pay attention not only to whether an offer contains contingencies, but also to what those contingencies actually say and how much time is provided for them.

An offer with a higher price is not automatically the strongest offer if other terms create substantially more uncertainty for the seller.

An Investigation Contingency Can Give the Buyer Time to Learn More About the Property

Buying a home is a significant financial decision, and buyers commonly want an opportunity to investigate the property.

Depending on the transaction and the contract, this period may involve inspections or other investigations that help the buyer learn more about the home’s condition.

Sellers sometimes hear the word inspection and assume the purpose is simply to create a list of repairs. In reality, the investigation period can be much broader. It gives a buyer an opportunity to gather information about the property and make decisions based on what is discovered, subject to the terms of the agreement.

For the seller, the important point is to understand what the contract allows, the applicable deadlines, and what may happen if an issue is discovered.

Financing Is Another Important Part of an Offer

When a buyer is obtaining a loan to purchase the property, financing can be an important part of the transaction.

A buyer may appear financially strong and may even have a lender’s preapproval, but a preapproval is not the same as a completed loan. The lender may still need to review documents, verify information, evaluate the property, and complete its underwriting process.

This is one reason sellers should look beyond the offer price and consider the buyer’s financing terms as part of the overall offer.

The amount of the down payment, the type of financing, the contingency terms, and the time provided for the buyer to complete certain steps can all be relevant when evaluating the transaction.

The Appraisal Can Matter When Financing Is Involved

An appraisal is another part of many financed real estate transactions.

The lender generally wants an independent opinion of the property’s value because the property is being used as security for the loan. If the appraisal supports the purchase price, this part of the process may proceed without much attention from the seller.

If the appraised value comes in below the purchase price, however, the situation can become more complicated.

What happens next depends on the contract, the financing, and the decisions made by the parties. The buyer and seller may need to consider their options based on the specific circumstances of the transaction.

This is another example of why the highest purchase price on paper does not tell the entire story.

Fewer Contingencies Do Not Automatically Mean the Best Offer

From a seller’s perspective, an offer with fewer uncertainties may initially appear more attractive. However, it is important not to evaluate an offer based on one term alone.

Purchase price, financing, deposit, contingency periods, closing date, possession, and other terms can all contribute to the overall strength of an offer.

The seller’s priorities matter as well.

A seller who needs a particular closing date may evaluate two offers differently from a seller whose primary goal is maximizing price. Another seller may place greater importance on the likelihood of the transaction reaching closing without unnecessary complications.

There is no universal formula that identifies the best offer for every homeowner.

An appraisal can be an important part of a financed home purchase because the lender generally wants an independent opinion of the property’s value.

Pay Attention to the Deadlines

Real estate contracts contain important dates and deadlines, and contingency periods can be among them.

Once an offer is accepted, both buyers and sellers should understand what is expected during the transaction and when certain actions are supposed to occur.

A seller does not need to memorize every provision of a real estate contract before putting a home on the market. However, when an offer arrives, it is worth slowing down enough to understand the terms before making a decision.

A purchase agreement is a contract, not simply a statement of how much someone is willing to pay for the house.

Look at the Entire Offer Before Making a Decision

It can be tempting to compare offers by putting the prices next to each other and choosing the largest number. In reality, evaluating an offer requires a more complete picture.

The price matters, but so do the contingencies, financing, timelines, deposit, closing terms, and the seller’s own priorities.

Understanding those pieces does not mean a seller needs to become an expert in real estate contracts. It means asking questions and understanding what is being agreed to before signing.

When an offer arrives, the goal should not simply be to find the highest number. It should be to understand the entire offer and make an informed decision about which terms make the most sense for the seller and the property.

With gratitude and a heart for service,

Claudia Backus, MBA
California Real Estate Broker
REALTOR®
Serving Pacific Palisades & the Westside of Los Angeles

September 2, 2026
Should You Make Repairs Before Selling Your Home? What Los Angeles Sellers Should Consider

One of the questions homeowners often face before putting a property on the market is whether they should make repairs first or simply sell the home in its current condition.

It sounds like a simple decision, but it rarely is. Some repairs can make a home easier to sell and help buyers feel more comfortable with the property. Other improvements may cost far more than they ultimately contribute to the sale. In Los Angeles, where buyers can encounter everything from beautifully renovated homes to properties that have not been updated in decades, there is no single answer that works for every seller.

The better question may be: Which repairs actually matter for this particular home, in this particular market, and for the buyers most likely to purchase it?

Start With the Difference Between Repairs and Improvements

Repairs and improvements are not necessarily the same thing.

A repair addresses something that is damaged, broken, leaking, unsafe, or not functioning properly. An improvement changes or upgrades the home, such as replacing an older kitchen that still works with a brand new one.

That distinction matters because sellers can easily begin with a short repair list and suddenly find themselves considering new countertops, new flooring, new appliances, new landscaping, and an entire list of cosmetic upgrades.

Before spending that money, it is important to understand what problem you are actually trying to solve.

If a leaking faucet, broken door, damaged wall, or nonfunctioning light fixture can be repaired relatively easily, taking care of it may prevent a buyer from wondering what else has been neglected. A major renovation, however, requires a much more careful analysis.

Buyers Notice the Small Things Too

When homeowners have lived in a property for many years, they naturally become accustomed to its little imperfections. A door that sticks, a cabinet handle that is loose, or a light switch that does not work may barely register anymore.

A buyer is seeing the home for the first time.

Small visible problems can sometimes influence the way a buyer perceives the rest of the property. One minor issue is usually just a minor issue, but several of them together can create the impression that the home has not been well maintained.

This does not mean a house needs to be perfect before it can be sold. It simply means that relatively inexpensive repairs may deserve attention when they improve the overall impression of care.

Be Careful About Renovating for Someone Else

One of the biggest risks sellers face is spending significant money creating a home that reflects their own taste rather than the future buyer’s.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars choosing new flooring, fixtures, or finishes only to discover that the eventual buyer would have preferred something completely different.

This can be particularly important with kitchens and bathrooms because renovations can become expensive very quickly. A seller may assume that a new kitchen will automatically increase the sale price by at least the amount spent on the renovation, but real estate does not always work that way.

The value of an improvement depends on many factors, including the neighborhood, the property’s price range, the quality of the work, the current competition, and what buyers in that particular market expect.

Sometimes the better decision is to allow buyers to see the home’s potential and make their own choices after purchasing it.

Thoughtful repairs can improve the way a home presents to buyers, but sellers do not necessarily need to renovate everything before putting a property on the market.

Consider How Your Home Compares With the Competition

The condition of competing homes matters.

If buyers looking in your neighborhood are primarily seeing renovated properties and your home requires significant work, condition may affect both the price buyers are willing to pay and the way the property should be positioned.

On the other hand, an older home does not automatically need to be transformed into a newly renovated one before it can compete.

Some buyers specifically look for homes they can personalize. Others may value the location, lot, floor plan, architectural character, or potential more than updated finishes.

This is why decisions about repairs should not be made in isolation. Looking at comparable properties can help a seller understand what buyers are currently seeing and what they may expect at a particular price.

Think About the Seller’s Priorities Too

The best decision is not based only on the house. It also depends on the seller.

One homeowner may have the time, money, and desire to complete repairs before listing. Another may need to sell quickly and prefer not to manage contractors or take on additional expenses.

Those are both legitimate considerations.

Selling a home is not simply an exercise in achieving the highest theoretical price. Sellers also have to consider timing, convenience, available cash, stress, and what makes sense for their individual circumstances.

Sometimes preparing a property more extensively is worthwhile. Sometimes selling it in its current condition is the more practical choice.

Get Information Before You Start Spending

Before beginning a long list of projects, it can be helpful to first understand how the home is likely to compete in the current market.

Which issues are likely to matter to buyers? Which ones are mostly cosmetic? Are there relatively simple repairs that could improve the home’s presentation? Would a major renovation make financial sense, or would the seller be better served by adjusting the pricing strategy?

These questions are easier to answer when the property’s condition is considered alongside comparable sales, current listings, buyer expectations, and the seller’s own goals.

A home does not have to be perfect to be marketable, and sellers should not assume that every dollar spent before a sale will automatically come back to them.

The goal is not necessarily to fix everything. It is to make thoughtful decisions about what is worth addressing and what may be better left for the next owner.

With gratitude and a heart for service,

Claudia Backus, MBA
California Real Estate Broker
REALTOR®
Serving Pacific Palisades & the Westside of Los Angeles

September 2, 2026
How Is the Real Estate Market? The Better Question Every Home Seller Should Ask

One of the most common questions in real estate is also one of the hardest to answer:

“How is the market?”

It sounds like a simple question. But after attending The MLS Summit 2026 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, one idea stayed with me: before answering that question, we should first ask, which market?

That may seem like a small distinction, but for a homeowner thinking about selling, it can make a very big difference.

There is no single Los Angeles real estate market behaving exactly the same way everywhere. The market for a home in Pacific Palisades may look very different from the market for a condominium in West Los Angeles. Even within the same neighborhood, homes in different price ranges, locations, sizes, and conditions may face very different competition. That is why I believe homeowners deserve something more useful than a general statement that “the market is good” or “the market is slow.”

Your Home Has Its Own Market

When we hear reports about the Los Angeles housing market, we are usually looking at broad statistics. Those numbers can certainly be useful. They help us understand larger trends in prices, inventory, interest rates, and buyer activity.

But when someone is preparing to sell a particular home, the question becomes much more specific.

What are buyers looking at as alternatives to this home right now? How many similar properties are currently available? What price range are they in? How long have they been on the market? What condition are they in? And perhaps most importantly, how does this particular property fit within those choices? That smaller universe is the market that matters most to the homeowner.

Nick Segal presenting “Become an Instant Authority in Any Market!” at The MLS Summit 2026. One takeaway that stayed with me was the importance of defining which market we are actually talking about before discussing real estate conditions.

Why Active Listings Matter When Selling a Home

Something else I brought home from the Summit was a greater appreciation for active inventory.

When homeowners think about the value of their property, it is natural to focus on homes that recently sold. Those sales are extremely important, and they are a major part of a thoughtful comparative market analysis.

But active listings tell us something different.

They show us the competition a seller may be facing today.

Imagine that a buyer is searching for a home within a particular area and price range. That buyer may have several properties to choose from this weekend. Those homes are competing for the buyer’s attention at the same moment. Looking carefully at that active competition can help a seller better understand how buyers may perceive the home’s price, condition, location, features, and overall value.

The Market Can Change Within a Few Blocks

This is especially interesting to me as someone who lives and works on the Westside of Los Angeles.

We often talk about areas such as Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Westwood, and the surrounding Westside as though each one represents a single market. In reality, even within those communities there can be smaller markets.

Price range matters. Property type matters. Location within a neighborhood matters. Condition matters. Views, lot size, privacy, layout, renovations, and proximity to certain amenities can matter too.

And then there is timing. The competition a homeowner faces when listing a property today may not be the same competition that existed three months ago or will exist three months from now.

Real estate conditions can vary significantly by neighborhood, property type, price range, and even the competition available to buyers at a particular moment.

Online Estimates Cannot See Everything

Technology has given homeowners access to an incredible amount of real estate information. I think that is a good thing.

A homeowner can look up estimated values, recent sales, neighborhood statistics, and properties for sale in a matter of minutes. Artificial intelligence is making access to information even faster.

But information and interpretation are not quite the same thing.

An automated system may know the square footage and number of bedrooms. It may identify nearby sales. What it may not fully understand is why one comparable is more meaningful than another, how buyers are responding to the current competition, or whether something unique about a home’s condition, location, layout, privacy, view, or improvements changes the comparison. This is one of the reasons I continue to believe that technology and professional judgment work best together.

Good Real Estate Advice Starts With Homework

I have written before that I think of preparing a CMA as doing homework, and I really mean that.

The more I learn about the MLS and the information available to real estate professionals, the more I appreciate how much there is to study before giving a homeowner an opinion about their property.

For me, being prepared means looking beyond one number. It means studying relevant sales, examining active competition, understanding the specific micro market, considering the characteristics of the property, and then explaining what the information may mean for the homeowner’s selling strategy. I would much rather tell someone, “Let me study your particular market,” than give them a quick answer based on a headline about Los Angeles real estate.

So, How Is the Market?

The next time someone asks me that question, I may answer with another one:

Which market?

Because if you are thinking about selling your home, the market that matters most is not necessarily the one being discussed on television or summarized in a national headline.

It is the market surrounding your home, your competition, your price range, and your goals.

One of the reasons I enjoy continuing to learn about real estate and the MLS is that better information helps me be of better service. Homeowners make important financial and personal decisions when they sell a home, and I believe they deserve advice based on preparation, context, and careful attention to the market that actually matters to them.

Claudia Backus, MBA
California Real Estate Broker | REALTOR®
Serving Pacific Palisades & the Westside

August 14, 2026