At least one condominium contract in the Bay Area has a contingency clause related to coronavirus.
The seller travelled to Wuhan, China for Chinese New Year celebrations after their condo went into contract on Jan. 25, and has yet to return to the U.S. due to the fast-growing spread of the virus and a local lockdown, Inman reported.
As a result, local brokerage Red Oak Realty, which is representing the buyer, advocated for the addition of a clause that requires a seller to pay the costs for a home inspection and appraisal in the event that that the seller isn’t able to travel home in time for the closing and Red Oak’s client decides to move on.
The seller also agreed to pay for the extension of the buyer’s 30-day mortgage rate lock.
Gabriela Neagu, the Red Oak agent working with the buyer on the deal, said they knew the seller was travelling to China, but had only realized later that he’d travelled to Wuhan, the city where the epidemic began.
Neagu told Inman that the seller had attempted to designate someone in the U.S. as power of attorney to conduct the sale, but papers weren’t able to be notarized so they opted for a coronavirus contingency clause.
Vanessa Bergmark, who runs Red Oak, told the publication that contingency clauses are rare in the Bay Area.
“There’s been these little things that have come up over time, but I haven’t seen one around a virus,” she added.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Industrial Average have plunged following reports that coronavirus was breaking out in Italy and South Korea. [Inman] — Erin Hudson