Hi Leon, Ethan gave you a great answer....
And he is in your area, good luck to both of you. Let me add something to his answer for your to consider.
If you are working with an agent in this situation, by checking out the homes to be sold, size, price range, locations etc. etc. also have they been on the market and if so for how long, i.e. the history of the buyers' properties and the terms of their offer and amount of down payment etc. may just help you and your Realtor to have a preference for one of the two contingent offers...

And keeping both in the game although a bit more complicated Ethan had some ideas there for you.
Good luck to you!
Edith edithsellshomes@gmail.com

Hello Leon,

Congratulations on finding two buyers that are interested in writing offers on your home. Even though both offers are contingent upon the sale of another property it is a great start in a slower market. There are several ways to handle your situation, depending on the details of each offer and how you feel about them. Here are a couple of tips to try and keep both buyers around while they are trying to sell their respective homes.

I am not aware of a way to just say "whomever sells their home first" in a contract to your buyers. Both offers are independant of each other and trying to tie them together could get very messy. You will need to negotiate and choose the offer that you feel is the strongest of the two. This offer you can accept as the "primary offer". The other offer, asuming it can be negotiated to acceptable terms as well, can be accepted into a "secondary" or backup position.

HERE IS HOW YOU KEEP THEM BOTH AROUND:
Both contracts need to have a "72 hour Time Clause" incorporated into them. This will allow you to continue to market your property to ALL prospective buyers. If the primary buyer sells their home first, they can simply continue with the terms of the contract and buy your home. If the secondary buyer sells their home first, or another random buyer writes an acceptable offer, then the primary offer is given 72 hours notice to remove ALL of their contingencies and close on the previously scheduled closing deadline. If they choose not to remove all of their contingencies within that 72 hour deadline, then you are free to move the secondary offer into primary position and proceed to closing with them.

These are situations that can be handled, but need to be handled with care. I would reccomend that you have an attorney or a real estate broker help you with the contract writing in this situation. It could get very sticky if not done correctly, but if done right, you could keep both buyers around until one of their homes sell. If you have any questions you are welcome to call or email me.

Thanks,

Ethan Heap
Associate Broker
John W Hansen & Associates Real Estate
801-540-1500