Regardless what you think, if you want to sell your house, just make sure that your realtor is representing you, and you have the contigency clause and the kick out clause ( I think that is what it is called). You also might give them a time limit to come up with the funds/committment.

Why is it BS? Conditional offers are common where I live. Maybe you mean something else...

An offer with a contingency like that doesn't seem like BS, or uncommon. Of course, their offer would be much less appealing to you than other offers without contingencies that you might receive.

It doesn't seem like a great idea to have your realtor also represent them, if they do indeed make an offer on your house -- you might let your agent know that you'd be uncomfortable with that arrangement.

It just seems like a lot for them to list their house and do everything they talked about. My realtor would list their house but not represent them with my house. She would have another realtor submit the offer etc.

It's done all the time. In fact until the housing market got so hot the last decade or two it was the norm here. If you got an offer without a contingency to sell you felt like you hit the jackpot.

I echo calliope's comment. The housing bubble created a lot of distorted behavior, and we're seeing a return to normalcy. At the worst of it, buyers were sometimes signing contracts without even mortgage contingencies---then again the banks were handing out mortgages to anybody with a pulse! Of course, if you had multiple bidders on your house, then the one with a contingency to sell would be dismissed. If you don't have any other bids on your place, then consider their offer very seriously. Unless you have a starter home that will attract 1st time buyers, a contingency to sell will not be uncommon.

While sale contingencies used to be the norm, I'd be pretty leery of that in most areas of the country right now. There are many places where houses are sitting for 6 months+. You should ask your agent for the average days on the market in your city to see what you can likely expect.

Do most people find a house they want to buy before putting their house on the market? These people are not going to put house on the market until they find their dream home. Then they will write a contingency offer. They are coming for a second showing this week.

Well, you could always keep the house listed for backup offers only. I've seen that done around here (southern nj) a few times. If for whatever reason the other people don't get their act together, or take too long, move on. Since you appear to be desperate to sell and have had zero other interest, I would go ahead. It doesn't appear anyone else is beating down your door to see your property.

You could take a contingency offer with a clause that says that if you get an offer from someone else that your buyer has X hours to remove the sale contingency or the contract is terminated.

Realistically, though, I tend to agree with stapleface. Your home has gotten zero interest from buyers and it looked like you were going to need to take it off the market since you couldn't list it for a price low enough to attract buyers. Given that it would seem you have little downside with a sale contingency although if it was me I would want to put in a clause like I mention above.

"While sale contingencies used to be the norm, I'd be pretty leery of that in most areas of the country right now."

Put a 48 or 72 hour kick out clause in and they are just fine.

How long has your house been on the market?

2 months

First time buyers can move from an apartment (or a friend's/relative's house) straight to a house, but many buyers don't want to sell their place before finding their house-to-be. Doing otherwise would often mean putting at least some of their things in storage, and moving into a rental, all in the hopes of finding a place they like better than their old house and at a fair price they can afford. I'm not saying everyone is like that: I myself am very conservative with my finances, so I don't ever want to run the risk of having 2 mortgages.

What is the average days on market in your area?