Put To Seller

Categories: Derivatives

In simplest terms, consider a home. The seller is semi-desperate to sell. The price has already been negotiated to the bone. It's $450,000. That's what they buyer's buying it for.

But as part of the purchase, the buyer has an embedded put. That is, they have the right to put back to the seller, i.e. the new buyer has the right to sell back to the seller her new home for $430,000 any time in the next 18 months.

It's kind of a "money-back guarantee." The seller, exercising that put, would lose 20 grand, but they could then be house-free and liquid and gonezo. Maybe it's a new Thing in real estate. We're gonna ask Zillow.

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