Guaranteed Sold Program
If the backstop offer is the one you take
Plan for the backstop to be the outcome, not the safety net you never touch. If you would be unhappy taking it, the program is the wrong product for you, and better to know that before you list than at day 90.
It is a discount. Same logic as a cash offer
Whoever stands behind the floor is a buyer with the same math as any other cash buyer: repairs, holding costs, resale risk, and margin. They are also buying a house that has just sat on the open market without selling, which is information that argues for a lower number, not a higher one.
So the backstop will be below the price you listed at, and it will usually be below what a cash buyer would have offered on day one, before the market said no.
What you get for it
- A known floor, so your worst case is a number instead of an unknown.
- A date, which means you can commit to a move, a lease, or a purchase.
- The end of showings, price cuts, and open-ended carrying costs.
Set the expectation with the number in front of you
Before signing anything, write down three figures: your realistic listing net, the backstop net after all fees, and your payoff plus moving costs. If the backstop net does not clear the third figure, the program does not solve your problem and you should say so now.
Ask for the backstop net specifically. Gross price is not what you keep.
How to decide in the moment
When the window opens, the question is not whether the backstop is a good price. It is not. The question is whether another 30 to 60 days on market, at a lower list price, would realistically net you more than the floor after the extra carrying costs — and whether you can absorb it if the answer turns out to be no.
If the feedback has been consistent and the showings have dried up, more time is unlikely to change the outcome. If interest was real and the problem was price, a reduction may still beat the floor. Ask your agent for the showings, feedback, days on market, and price position before you answer.
Keep reading
More on guaranteed sold program
A floor price and a date, on paper, not a promise.
See the guaranteed sold program path