A home sale contingency makes a buyer’s purchase depend on selling, and closing on, a home the buyer already owns. On the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 8.0, a purchase contract widely used across the Chicago area, including Naperville, it is paragraph 31, and it applies only when both sides initial it. The buyer gets a date to have their home under contract and a date to close that sale.
The seller gets the kick out clause: the right to keep offering the home and, after accepting another offer, to give the buyer a set number of hours to waive the contingency or let the contract end.
I am Dan Firks, Founder and CEO of the Dan Firks Team at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group here in Naperville. My Illinois real estate broker license is 475.141739.
This guide is for you if you own a home that is not yet under contract and want to make an offer that depends on selling it, or if you are a seller who has received an offer like that. It is general information, not legal advice. Call or text me at 630.637.9009 or email Dan@Naperville.com. For the fill-in table, skip to the blanks you negotiate.
In this guide
- What is a home sale contingency
- How to buy a house contingent on selling yours
- How long a house is normally contingent for
- How a kick out clause works in Illinois
- How a buyer waives the contingency
- If the buyer’s home sale falls through
- What paragraph 32 does
- Can a seller reject a contingent offer
- What to ask a real estate attorney
- Frequently asked questions
What is a home sale contingency?
A home sale contingency is a condition that makes the buyer’s obligation to buy depend on selling and closing on a home they already own. On the Multi-Board 8.0 form it is paragraph 31, one of the optional paragraphs that become part of the contract only when initialed. It has five parts.
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 31(a) Representations | The buyer’s home address, whether it is listed, and whether it is under contract, with or without contingencies of its own |
| 31(b) Sale and closing dates | A date to have the buyer’s home under contract and a date to close that sale, each with a notice deadline the buyer must meet |
| 31(c) Kick out | The seller may keep offering the home, then give notice that starts the buyer’s hours to respond |
| 31(d) Waiver | A written waiver plus additional earnest money |
| 31(e) Cooperation | The seller or seller’s agent may verify the buyer’s statements, and the buyer cooperates |
The form is copyright 2025 by the Multi-Board Joint Venture and was approved in February 2025 by more than 20 bar associations and REALTOR organizations, including the DuPage County Bar Association, the Will County Bar Association, Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS and Three Rivers Association of REALTORS.
Naperville spans DuPage and Will counties. The official form is available through the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association, and because it prohibits duplication, this guide paraphrases it by paragraph number.
Parties can also use a different contract or an attorney-modified one, and builder agreements for new homes set their own terms. Check the paragraph numbers in the contract you sign.
How do you buy a house contingent on selling yours?
You make an offer with paragraph 31 initialed, tell the seller where the sale of your current home stands, and fill in every blank the paragraph needs: the listing choice if your home is not listed, a date to have it under contract, a date to close that sale, the kick out hours and the additional earnest money that goes with a waiver.
Under 31(a), the buyer states:
- The address of the home they own.
- Whether it is under contract, and if so, three separate answers: whether that contract is subject to a financing contingency, to a sale contingency and to a closing contingency.
- Whether it is publicly listed with a licensed brokerage and shows up on a local multiple listing service (MLS).
- If it is not listed, one of two choices: publicly list it within five Business Days (weekdays, not counting federal holidays) after the Date of Acceptance with a licensed brokerage that will get the home entered into a local MLS, or state no intent to list with a licensed brokerage.
Paragraph 31(b)(1) sets the date by which your home must be under a contract in full force, and says that sale should close no later than the closing date of your purchase. Paragraph 31(b)(2) sets the date by which your sale must close. Each date has a notice deadline you must meet; see what happens if the sale falls through.
Two numbers help before you write the offer: what your home may sell for, from a Naperville home value estimate, and what it may leave you after payoffs and selling costs, from the Naperville net proceeds calculator. A comparative market analysis estimates market value only, not your net. For the costs behind that net figure, see what it costs to sell a home in Naperville.
Whether to use a sale contingency or sell first is a separate choice: Moving out of Naperville: how to sell and time the move compares the two orders, and our guide to what your current home could net before you choose the next one walks through the numbers.
How long is a house normally contingent for?
There is no standard length on the Multi-Board 8.0 form. The contract-by date, the close-by date and the kick out hours are blanks filled in for each deal, so the answer is whatever your contract says. Ranges quoted online are not in the Illinois form, and I do not repeat them here.
The blanks you negotiate. Print this table and fill in the last column from your contract.
| Blank | Paragraph | What it sets | Your contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing choice | 31(a)(4) | Publicly list within five Business Days with a licensed brokerage that will get the home entered into a local MLS, or no intent to list with a licensed brokerage | __________ |
| Contract-by date | 31(b)(1) | When the buyer’s home must be under contract | __________ |
| Close-by date | 31(b)(2) | When the buyer’s sale must close | __________ |
| Kick out hours | 31(c)(1) | Hours the buyer has to waive after a kick out notice | ______ hours |
| Additional earnest money | 31(d) | The deposit, by cashier’s or certified check, that must go with a waiver | $ __________ |
| Cancel-by date | 32(a) | When the seller’s earlier contract, one that depends on that buyer’s own sale or closing, must be cancelled in writing | __________ |
| Cancel-by date | 32(b) | When the seller’s earlier contract without that contingency must be cancelled in writing | __________ |
| Buyer’s notice date | 32(c) | When the buyer must notify the seller that the buyer’s contract to buy a different home has been terminated | __________ |
For context, Redfin reported a median 43 days on market and a 100.2 percent sale-to-list ratio for Naperville homes in the three months ending May 2026. The 43 days is past citywide time on market, not a forecast for your home and not a figure for the contract-by date, the close-by date or the kick out hours.
In my experience, the dates that cause friction are the ones written in before anyone has checked how long the buyer’s own home needs to get ready for the market.
How does a kick out clause work in Illinois?
A kick out clause lets the seller keep offering the home while the buyer’s sale contingency is in effect. If the seller accepts another bona fide offer and notifies the buyer in writing, the buyer has the number of hours written in the contract to waive the contingencies, or the contract ends.
On the Multi-Board 8.0 form this is paragraph 31(c):
- Both sides initial paragraph 31 and fill in the hours in 31(c)(1).
- While the 31(b) contingencies are in effect, the seller may keep showing and offering the home.
- If the seller accepts another bona fide offer, the seller gives the buyer written notice, commonly called a kick out notice. When the second contract uses paragraph 32(a), that notice should wait until the second contract’s attorney review and professional inspection provisions have expired, been satisfied or been waived.
- The buyer’s hours run from that notice.
- If the buyer waives in writing and makes the 31(d) deposit, the contract stays in force.
- If the buyer does not waive in writing within those hours, the contract is null and void.
The form sets its own service rules for the kick out notice, separate from its general notice paragraph, and serving it correctly is a job for the seller’s attorney.
The kick out protects a seller who accepted a buyer’s sale contingency. It is not a way for a seller to make their own sale depend on finding a next home, and it does not make a contingent offer more likely to be accepted.
In my experience, the hours blank gets the least attention while an offer is being negotiated and the most attention once a second offer arrives.
How does a buyer waive a home sale contingency?
Under paragraph 31(d), the buyer delivers a written waiver and deposits the additional earnest money written in the contract with the escrowee, paid by cashier’s or certified check, inside the period the contract allows.
If the deposit is late, the waiver is ineffective and the contract is null and void. The same step applies whether the buyer is answering a kick out notice or reporting that their own sale contract ended.
Waiving means going forward without the contingency’s protection. Whether that fits a buyer’s finances is for the buyer, their lender and their attorney, and this guide does not say whether to waive. For how earnest money is held, see what happens after you accept an offer on your Naperville home.
What happens if the buyer’s home sale falls through?
On the Multi-Board 8.0 form, a timely written notice from the buyer that the sale failed makes the contract null and void. The form attaches different consequences to a notice that is missed or late, and those are a question for a licensed Illinois real estate attorney. The notice and its deadline depend on how the sale fails:
| What happened | Buyer’s notice and its deadline | With a notice served in time |
|---|---|---|
| No sale contract by the contract-by date, 31(b)(1) | That no sale contract was procured, by the end of business on that date | Contract is null and void |
| Sale not closed by the close-by date, 31(b)(2) | That the sale has not closed, before the end of business the following Business Day | Contract is null and void |
| Sale contract ends after the contract-by date, 31(b)(3) | That the sale contract ended, within three Business Days | Contract is null and void, unless the notice waives the contingencies and the buyer makes the 31(d) deposit |
How a notice is served, how each deadline applies to your dates and what each outcome means for the earnest money are also questions for your attorney. On the listing side, a refreshed home value estimate is a reasonable place to restart the conversation with your agent.
What does paragraph 32 of the Multi-Board contract do?
Paragraph 32, Cancellation of Prior Real Estate Contract, makes a new contract depend on an earlier one being cancelled or terminated by a date written in. If that does not happen, the new contract is null and void. The parties initial only the subparagraph that applies:
- 32(a). The seller has an earlier contract with a buyer whose purchase depends on their own sale or closing, which is the kick out situation from the second buyer’s side.
- 32(b). The seller has an earlier contract without that contingency. Apart from the earnest money deposit, the new contract’s Business Day periods run from the seller’s notice that the earlier contract was cancelled.
- 32(c). The buyer has a contract to buy a different home and must notify the seller, by the date written in, that it has been terminated.
For a seller who accepted a contingent offer and then receives another, 31(c) and 32(a) work as a pair. The second contract depends on the first being cancelled in writing by the 32(a) date, and the kick out notice to the first buyer should wait until the second contract’s attorney review and inspection provisions have expired, been satisfied or been waived.
If the first buyer waives in time, the first contract stays in force, and the second is null and void once the 32(a) date passes without a cancellation. Have your attorney map the order of steps before you accept the second offer.
Can a seller reject a contingent offer?
Yes. A seller can accept, counter or decline any offer, including one that depends on the buyer selling another home.
A sale contingency protects the buyer, but it can make an offer weaker against buyers who do not need one. The options, side by side:
| Option | What it gives | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer offers with a home sale contingency | A way out of the purchase, but only if the buyer serves the required 31(b) notice in time | Can look weaker next to offers without one, and exposure to a kick out notice |
| Seller accepts with the kick out clause | A signed buyer plus the right to keep offering the home | A closing that depends on a sale the seller does not control |
| Seller declines or counters | Room to wait for, or negotiate toward, other terms | No signed buyer in the meantime |
| Owner sells first, with a negotiated rent-back | Known proceeds before committing to the next home | A rent-back must be negotiated and is not automatic; without one, a move in between |
A seller weighing a contingent offer learns the most from the buyer’s 31(a) answers, which 31(e) lets the seller or seller’s agent verify.
In my experience, sellers find a contingent offer easier to judge when the buyer’s home is already listed, because the 31(b) dates can be checked against a real listing.
What should you ask a real estate attorney about a home sale contingency?
Ask how paragraph 31 applies to your dates and hours, what each side must send and by when, and what happens to the earnest money in each outcome. Those are questions for a licensed Illinois real estate attorney. Bring these:
- Is paragraph 31 initialed, and do the dates, hours and additional earnest money match what was negotiated?
- How, and by exactly when, must the notices around my contract-by and close-by dates be served, and what happens if one is missed or late?
- If a kick out notice arrives, what must I deliver, and by when?
- What happens to the earnest money and any additional earnest money in each outcome?
- For a seller: how should a second contract use paragraph 32, and in what order?
- Is this the Multi-Board 8.0 form, a modified version or a builder agreement?
Our guide to whether you need a real estate attorney to sell a house in Illinois covers the attorney review period. Loan questions, including whether your next approval assumes your current home has sold, go to your lender, and the Naperville mortgage calculator estimates a payment on the next home.
If you are weighing an offer that depends on selling your Naperville home, or you received one, call or text me at 630.637.9009 or email Dan@Naperville.com. I am a licensed broker, not an attorney.
Frequently asked questions
What does contingent on sale of home mean?
It means the obligation of the buyer to buy depends on selling, and closing on, a home they already own. On the Multi-Board 8.0 contract, that condition is paragraph 31, and it applies only when initialed. A written waiver with the 31(d) deposit removes the condition, and the right to cancel depends on the buyer serving each 31(b) notice on time, so ask a licensed Illinois real estate attorney about those deadlines.
Is a kick out clause the same as a home sale contingency?
No. The home sale contingency protects the buyer. The kick out clause protects the seller, who may keep offering the home and, after accepting another offer, give the buyer a set number of hours to waive the contingency or let the contract end.
Does a buyer have to list their home to use a home sale contingency?
Not on the Multi-Board 8.0 form. If the home is not listed, the buyer either commits to publicly list it within five Business Days after acceptance with a licensed brokerage that will get the home entered into a local MLS, or states no intent to list with a licensed brokerage.
Is there a standard number of hours in an Illinois kick out clause?
Not on the Multi-Board 8.0 form. The hours in paragraph 31(c)(1) are a blank the parties fill in, like the contract-by date, the close-by date and the additional earnest money.
Can a seller keep showing a house after accepting a contingent offer?
Yes, when paragraph 31 is part of the contract. Paragraph 31(c) lets the seller keep showing and offering the home while the sale contingency is in effect.
Does every Illinois home purchase use the Multi-Board 8.0 contract?
No. The parties can use a different contract or an attorney-modified one, and builder agreements for new construction set their own terms. Check the paragraph numbers in the contract you sign.
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