3 Red Flags That You're Dealing With an Unreasonable Seller

If a seller is guilty of these things, you may not want to sign that purchase contract.

Despite a record-low level of housing inventory and inflated home prices, now is actually a good time to buy a home for one big reason. Mortgage rates are very competitive these days, so if you lock in a home loan, you could enjoy savings in the form of lower monthly payments for years.

That said, getting an offer accepted in today's housing market is no easy feat given the competition at hand, so if you do manage to reach that point, you may be eager to move forward with the deal. But not so fast. Just as it's important to find the right home to buy, so too is it crucial to find a good seller to work with. And if these things apply to your seller, you may be better off walking away.

1. They take a long time to respond to your offer

Some sellers respond to offers on a home within hours, while others might take 24 hours. If you make an offer to buy a home and you don't hear back from your seller for many days, that should serve as an immediate red flag that something is off. It could be your seller isn't certain about moving forward with a home sale at all, or that your seller is not good at communicating. Either scenario could make your life miserable when you're trying to buy a place to live.

2. They have wacky contingencies

Sellers have the upper hand in today's housing market, which doesn't just mean they can command higher prices for their homes. It also means sellers can ask for some pretty offbeat things in their real estate contracts. If you encounter a seller who makes odd demands, you may not want to go through with the deal.

For example, your seller might try to work a contingency into your purchase contract where you must agree to keep your home's current flower beds in place indefinitely because the seller worked hard to plant them and wants that feature maintained. Or, your seller might put in a clause stating that the homemade sign hanging on the front porch must stay up for at least a decade. Either way, your seller should not get to dictate what your home looks like once you buy it, so beware of strange contract features that lock you into things you shouldn't have to commit to.

3. They ask to rent the home back for a long time

It's not uncommon for a seller to ask to rent back the home being sold for a limited period of time. It may be that the home your seller is buying won't be ready at the time of your closing, and that your seller needs to stay put for another 30 to 60 days. But if your seller asks to rent back the home you're buying for an unusually long period of time -- say, four months or longer -- then you want to think twice before signing that contract. That could be a sign that your seller hasn't found a new home to buy and may give you trouble vacating the property you're trying to purchase.

Buying a home from an unreasonable seller could be a huge hassle, so beware these red flags when you're in the process of getting a contract signed.