What Are the Three Contingencies in a Pennsylvania Agreement of Sale?

The three contingencies that protect a buyer in a Pennsylvania agreement of sale are the inspection contingency, the mortgage (financing) contingency and the seller's obligation to deliver good and marketable title. On the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors Standard Agreement for the Sale of Real Estate, used for nearly every York County resale, the inspection period defaults to 10 days if left blank, and the appraisal is handled inside the mortgage contingency rather than as its own checkbox.

Every contingency is a door out of the contract, with the deposit back, if a specific thing goes wrong. Waive it and the door is bricked up. York County buyers get pressure to waive things, so know what each one does first.

What does the inspection contingency do?

It gives the buyer a set number of days to inspect the house and then accept it, ask for repairs or a credit, or walk away. On the PAR form the buyer first elects or waives each inspection (home, wood-destroying insects, radon, water, septic). Then the contingency period runs: the number of days written in, or 10 if blank. By the last day the buyer must hand the seller a decision with copies of the reports: accept the property as is, send a written corrective proposal (repairs, a price cut or a credit), or terminate and get the deposit back.

Two details people miss: the seller is not on the clock to answer a repair request until the period ends, and a buyer who waives every inspection still keeps two pre-settlement walk-throughs.

How does the mortgage contingency work?

It makes the deal depend on the buyer getting the loan described in the contract by a written commitment date. Paragraph 8 of the PAR agreement lays out the loan type, amount, term, maximum rate and loan-to-value ratio, and since the September 1, 2025 revision the buyer picks one of three boxes: Not Applicable (no financing), Waived (the buyer may finance but the deal does not depend on it) or Elected (the sale is contingent on that financing). The commitment date now has its own row.

The form has no default commitment date; it is whatever the parties write in, so set it with the lender's underwriting timeline in mind. If the buyer cannot produce the lender's approval by that date, the seller gains the right to terminate. Leave it blank and the seller may lose that right. The form also does not let a buyer simply walk because a loan was turned down: the buyer must make a good-faith effort to obtain the financing described.

Where is the appraisal contingency?

Inside the mortgage contingency, not in a separate box. The PAR form has no "appraisal contingency" line, only the loan-to-value ratio in Paragraph 8: if the appraisal comes in low, the loan the buyer applied for may not be available. PAR's own guidance is blunt about the limits of that protection: Paragraph 8 "does not allow a buyer to terminate the contract; rather, the buyer is supposed to make a good faith effort to obtain financing that will meet the LTV." The buyer can ask for a price cut; the seller does not have to agree.

A true appraisal contingency is a separate addendum, PAR's Appraisal Contingency Addendum (Form ACA). It sets a minimum appraised value; if the appraisal misses it the buyer can negotiate or terminate with the deposit refunded. It matters most for cash and large-down-payment buyers, whom a loan-to-value ratio alone does not protect.

What protects the buyer on title?

The contract's title clause. The PAR agreement provides that the property will be conveyed with "good and marketable title that is insurable by a reputable title insurance company at the regular rates," free of liens, encumbrances and easements other than the ones the form excepts. If the seller cannot deliver that, the buyer may take whatever title the seller can convey, or terminate and recover the deposit plus inspection and certification costs. Usually the title company finds the problem (an old mortgage, a missing heir, a municipal lien) and the seller clears it before settlement.

What else protects a Pennsylvania buyer before signing?

Two disclosures that come before the contract. Under the Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law (68 Pa.C.S. §§ 7301-7315) a seller must disclose known material defects on the state property disclosure statement, delivered signed and dated before the agreement of sale is signed. And under 49 Pa. Code § 35.336 every licensee must give the consumer the Consumer Notice, explaining the agency relationships available, at the initial interview, the first substantive discussion of their real estate needs.

What does waiving each contingency really risk?

Contingency	Waive it and you accept
Inspection	The roof, furnace, foundation and septic as they are, with only the seller's disclosure and two walk-throughs to go on.
Mortgage	If the loan falls through, the deposit is at risk.
Appraisal (no ACA)	Covering any appraisal gap in cash, or renegotiating with a seller who does not have to say yes.
Title	Not really waivable; a lender will not close on uninsurable title, and a cash buyer should not.

Before you write an offer in York County, I walk through every one of these boxes with you so the contract fits your situation rather than the seller's wish list. Call or text me at 717-356-9413. This is general information, not legal advice; the form itself and your attorney control.