Will a Seller Accept a Contingent Offer? Olathe, KS

Yes, When the Listing Has Been Sitting. Here Is How It Went in Arbor Woods

Yes, a seller will accept a contingent offer, and the longer their home has been on the market the more likely it is. In July 2026 Hunter and Becky, working with Michelle Neely of Nelson Home Group at Keller Williams KC North, went under contract on 23152 W 126th Street, a 2019 reverse 1.5 story in the Arbor Woods subdivision of Olathe, Kansas, while their own home was still listed with a different agent and had not sold. The Arbor Woods listing had been on the market 45 days. Its sellers accepted an offer that depended on Hunter and Becky selling first, and both homes closed on September 3, 2026.

That last part is the piece most people do not expect. A contingent offer is only as good as the sale behind it, and the sale behind this one had been failing for weeks. What turned it around was not the house they were selling. It was the price on it.

Here is how the deal actually went, start to finish.

The Full Story

Hunter and Becky had found the home they wanted. 23152 W 126th Street sits on a treed cul-de-sac lot in Arbor Woods on the west side of Olathe: four bedrooms, three full baths and a half bath, 2,632 finished square feet across a main level and a finished walk-out lower level, with covered balconies looking out over the trees behind the house. It had come on the market June 5, 2026, and by the time they were ready to write an offer it had been sitting for a month and a half.

They had a problem, and it was not this house. It was theirs. Their home in Olathe was already on the market with a different agent and it was not moving. Showings were not turning into offers, and the longer it sat the more they worried it would not sell at all. They could not figure out what was wrong with it, and nobody had given them a straight answer.

Nothing was wrong with the house. It was priced wrong. That is the single most common reason a home in the Kansas City area fails to sell, and it is also the easiest one to fix, because the fix does not involve a contractor.

So the question in front of Michelle Neely was how to get her clients into the Arbor Woods home before someone else did, when the money to buy it was tied up in a house that had not sold.

The Strategy

The opening was the calendar. A seller with a brand-new listing and a stack of offers has no reason to accept one that depends on another house selling. A seller 45 days in is a different conversation. The Arbor Woods sellers had carried their home through most of the summer, and a well-qualified buyer with conventional financing and a clear plan to sell was worth more to them than more weeks of waiting for a clean offer that had not come.

Michelle wrote the offer with a home sale contingency and got it accepted. The contract date was July 27, 2026. Now the contingency had to be cleared, which meant Hunter and Becky’s own home had to go under contract, and quickly.

They canceled with their previous agent and Michelle took over the listing. She did not stage it differently or wait for the market to change. She priced it where the buyers actually were. Relisted at the right number, their home went under contract in a single day. The full pricing story on that side, including why the number landed just under a round figure, is in its own write-up: Should you price a house just under a round number?

With their sale under contract, the contingency on the Arbor Woods purchase was satisfied and the deal that had looked shaky was back on solid ground. From there it was a normal conventional closing.

The Success

Hunter and Becky closed on 23152 W 126th Street on September 3, 2026, 38 days after going under contract, on conventional financing. Their previous home closed the same day.

The Arbor Woods listing had been on the market 45 days when they went under contract on July 27. Their own home, the one that would not sell, went under contract in one day once it was priced correctly.

They were ecstatic, and it is worth saying why. The agent before Michelle had never gotten their old house under contract at all. Weeks of showings, no offers, and a growing fear that they were stuck. Six weeks later they owned the house they wanted and had closed the one they were leaving, on the same afternoon.

About This Property

23152 W 126th Street is a 2019 reverse 1.5 story in the Arbor Woods subdivision of Olathe, Kansas: four bedrooms, three full baths and one half bath, 2,632 finished square feet (1,107 on the main level and 1,525 in the finished walk-out lower level), a two-car garage with the doors facing front, and a 6,174-square-foot treed lot on a cul-de-sac. Frame construction with stone trim, a gas fireplace in the living room, a kitchen island and pantry with custom cabinets, wood and carpeted floors, a main-level bedroom that works as a guest room or office, and three more bedrooms downstairs including a large primary suite with a walk-in closet. A covered deck and patio out back, a sump pump, and an irrigation system. The HOA runs $850 a year; annual taxes were $6,886.

The listing was held by ReeceNichols – Country Club Plaza; Nelson Home Group represented the buyers. More on the area: Living in Olathe, KS →

Living in Olathe, Kansas

Olathe is the county seat of Johnson County and one of the largest cities in the Kansas City metro, on the southwest side of the area. Arbor Woods sits on the west side of Olathe, south of Interstate 435 and north of 135th Street, and the address is served by the Olathe School District: Forest View Elementary, Mission Trail Middle and Olathe West High School. If you are weighing Olathe against the rest of the metro, our Olathe agent page and the Olathe market page have more on how the market here actually behaves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make an offer on a house before your current home sells?

Yes. The offer is written with a home sale contingency, which makes the purchase depend on your current home going under contract or closing by a set date. In July 2026 Hunter and Becky, represented by Nelson Home Group of Keller Williams KC North, went under contract on a home in the Arbor Woods subdivision of Olathe, Kansas while their own home was still unsold and listed with another agent. The contingency was cleared when their home went under contract, and both closed September 3, 2026.

Will a seller accept a contingent offer?

It depends almost entirely on how long the seller’s home has been sitting. A listing that is a week old with multiple showings a day has no reason to take on your risk. A listing at 45 days, like the Arbor Woods home Hunter and Becky bought in Olathe, Kansas, has sellers who have already waited through most of a selling season and would rather have a committed buyer with a real plan than keep waiting. The days-on-market number is the first thing we look at before writing a contingent offer.

What happens if my house does not sell and the contingency runs out?

You can lose the house you are trying to buy. Most home sale contingencies have a deadline, and many sellers keep the listing active with a kick-out clause, meaning if another buyer comes along you have a short window to remove your contingency or step aside. That is why the sale side cannot be left to drift. Hunter and Becky’s home had already failed to sell once; repricing it and getting it under contract in a day is what protected the purchase. Contract terms vary, so read yours with your agent before you sign.

If my house is not selling, is something wrong with it?

Usually not. In the Kansas City area the most common reason a home sits without offers is the price, not the property. Hunter and Becky’s Olathe home had been listed with a different agent and was not moving; they were convinced something was wrong with it. Once Nelson Home Group of Keller Williams KC North relisted it at the right number, it went under contract in one day. Buyers had been seeing the house the whole time. They had been passing on the price.

Can I switch real estate agents if my listing is not working?

Often, yes, but it depends on the listing agreement you signed. Some brokerages will release a seller who asks; others hold the seller to the term of the contract or to a protection period for buyers who saw the home while it was listed. Hunter and Becky canceled with their previous agent and relisted with Michelle Neely of Nelson Home Group, and the new listing went under contract in a day. Ask for the release in writing, and if the agreement is unclear, have an attorney read it. Nelson Home Group is not a law firm and cannot advise you on the enforceability of a contract.

How fast can a correctly priced home sell in Olathe, Kansas?

Fast enough to rescue a contingent purchase. Hunter and Becky’s previous home in Olathe had sat unsold with another agent; relisted by Nelson Home Group at the right price, it went under contract in one day and closed September 3, 2026, the same day as the home they bought. Price is the single lever that changes how quickly a house sells more than any other.

Does Nelson Home Group handle the sale and the purchase at the same time?

Yes, and it works better when one agent is managing both timelines. On this deal Michelle Neely of Nelson Home Group at Keller Williams KC North wrote the contingent offer on the Arbor Woods home, took over the listing on the home being sold, priced it to move, and lined up both closings for the same day. Our guide on how to buy and sell a house at the same time in Kansas City walks through the options, including the contingent-offer route used here.

Where is Arbor Woods in Olathe?

On the west side of Olathe, Kansas, in Johnson County, south of Interstate 435 and north of 135th Street. It is a newer subdivision of single-family homes with an HOA of $850 a year, and addresses there are served by the Olathe School District. 23152 W 126th Street sits on a treed cul-de-sac lot in the second plat of the subdivision.

A contingent offer is not a long shot. It is a normal tool that works when the listing has aged enough for the sellers to listen and when the sale behind it is handled with real urgency. If you are trying to buy before you sell, our guide on buying and selling at the same time in Kansas City is the place to begin.

More stories from our team: how Hunter and Becky’s own home was priced to sell in a day · selling and buying at the same time while downsizing in Weston · selling a starter home to size up in Kansas City.

Nelson Home Group works with buyers and sellers across Olathe, Johnson County and the wider Kansas City metro. Call 816-680-6624 or reach the team here.

Joe Nelson · Nelson Home Group · 1508 NW Vivion Rd #205, Kansas City, MO 64118 · 816-680-6624
Brokerage: Keller Williams KC North · 816-452-4200