Contract Tips #1 Or Contingent This

Hi People.
Buyers. This will start off an infrequent series on things to remember when writing a "Residential Purchase Agreement" offer for a home. Sellers. This is what to look out for. The ying and yang, push and pull of negotiating will end up somewhere in the middle called "fair", if both parties are on the ball. One party is often not on his game (Or has a Realtor who was the banjo player in Deliverance) and that party ends up being taken advantage of.
Buyer contingencies. They are there to protect the buyer. Inspection, Loan & Appraisal are the main ones. Inspection is the buyer's right to inspect/ investigate the home, taxes, school district, noise pollution, pollution pollution, area crime and all around niceness. The buyer can hold a seance to check for evil spirits, check the area's demographics or see if the house is Feng whatever. If all of these (But not limited to these) things do not meet the buyer's approval the buyer can back out and get the full refund of the deposit, as long as they are within their contingency period.
Loan and Appraisal Contingencies are tied together and pretty self explanatory. If you can't get the loan or if the home does not appraise you can cancel escrow and get your full deposit back. The longer the buyer's contingency the better for the buyer. Also, you have very little (If any) control over these 2 contingencies. Keep them as long as you can and extend (Before they expire) if the bank/ appraiser need more time.
Obviously, the seller will want as short a buyer's contingency period as possible. When an offer is accepted the seller has to take the property off of the market. Knowing that the buyer can back out legally for something as frivolous as "I don't like the paint at sunset" or "This house makes me look fat" will keep the seller up late at night.
So, what's fair. It depends (Sissy answer). Feel out the situation. If you really want to buy the house and there are several offers on the table maybe you should consider a 10 day inspection period (Plenty of time to get an inspection done if you don't dilly-dally) as opposed to 17 days. This will make you more attractive to the seller. If he doesn't have any other offers and you don't feel like being rushed maybe ask for a 20 day inspection period. He should take it because he's starting to get nervous of never getting an offer or ever being loved. Sad.
People outside of California should consult a local Realtor. Laws, customs and practices can vary state to state.
Either way, call me at 619-507-7449 with any questions on any real estate topic.
God Bless