Worried Your Home Sale Could Fall Through? Here’s How to Help Keep It on Track

Few things are more stressful for a seller than getting all the way to a signed contract, making plans around your move, and then finding out the buyer is backing out.

After all the preparation, showings, negotiations, inspections and waiting, the last thing you want is to start the process all over again.

The good news? Most home sales do make it to the closing table.

But that doesn't mean sellers should leave everything to chance.

Recent data from Redfin shows that about 14% of U.S. home-sale agreements fell through in July 2026. That's roughly 1 in 7 transactions. And earlier this year, Redfin reported that the Fort Worth, Texas metro was among the areas with a higher cancellation rate, with roughly 18% of home-sale agreements falling through in May.

That doesn't mean a seller in Mansfield, Texas, Arlington, Texas, Burleson, Texas, Kennedale, Texas, or Grand Prairie, Texas should expect their sale to fall apart.

It does mean that preparation matters.

And one of the biggest risks to a home sale is something sellers can often get ahead of before their home ever hits the market.

Why Do Home Sales Fall Through?

There are a number of reasons a transaction can fall apart before closing, and not all of them are within the seller's control.

Redfin recently surveyed its agents about canceled transactions and found that inspection or repair issues were the most common reason, accounting for more than 70% of cancellations in that survey. Other reasons included buyer financing falling through, the buyer's existing home not selling, and changes in the buyer's financial situation.

Let's take a closer look.

1. Inspection or Repair Issues

This is the big one.

Once a buyer has a home under contract, the inspection can uncover issues the seller may not even know exist.

It could be a roof problem, plumbing issue, electrical concern, foundation movement, HVAC problem or something else that makes the buyer rethink the purchase.

Depending on the contract and circumstances, the buyer may ask the seller to make repairs, request a credit, negotiate the price or, in some situations, decide the home isn't right for them after all.

This is one reason I encourage sellers to think about the condition of their home before putting it on the market.

A buyer's inspection shouldn't be the first time anyone takes a close look at the property.

2. The Buyer's Financing Falls Through

A buyer can be pre-approved for a mortgage and still have to go through the lender's full underwriting process before closing.

Their income, assets, credit and financial situation can all come into play.

And sometimes things happen during the transaction that are outside the seller's control.

A job change, new debt, a major purchase or another financial change can affect a buyer's ability to qualify for the loan.

This is one reason it's important to consider more than simply the dollar amount when evaluating an offer.

The strength of the buyer and the terms of the offer matter, too.

3. The Buyer Can't Sell Their Current Home

This one can be particularly important when you're buying and selling at the same time.

Some buyers need the proceeds from their current home to purchase the next one. If their home doesn't sell on schedule, that can create a domino effect for your transaction.

Now you're not just depending on your buyer to perform.

You're depending, at least indirectly, on another real estate transaction happening first.

That doesn't automatically make an offer a bad one. But it is something your agent should help you evaluate carefully before you accept it.

4. The Buyer's Financial Situation Changes

Life happens.

A buyer may experience a job change, take on new debt, make a large purchase or have another financial change between getting pre-approved and closing.

Any of those things could affect their mortgage approval.

As a seller, you can't control what happens in someone else's finances. But you can control how carefully you evaluate the offer and the buyer's situation before moving forward.

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One of the Smartest Things You Can Do Before Listing

Here's where I think sellers can really put themselves in a better position.

Consider a pre-listing home inspection.

A pre-listing inspection is exactly what it sounds like: You have the home inspected before putting it on the market, rather than waiting for the buyer to discover potential issues after you're under contract.

Does every seller need one?

Not necessarily.

But it's a conversation worth having with your real estate agent.

A pre-listing inspection can give you the opportunity to find out about problems while you still have time to decide what you want to do about them.

Maybe there's an issue you want to repair before listing.

Maybe it's something you're comfortable disclosing and selling as-is.

Maybe the issue is minor and doesn't need to be addressed at all.

The important part is that you get to make that decision before you're under contract and working against a buyer's timeline.

Zillow similarly notes that a pre-listing inspection can help sellers identify potential problems before the buyer's inspection and potentially reduce surprises during the transaction.

Your Agent Can Help You Decide What Is Worth Fixing

This is where local knowledge becomes important.

If you're preparing to sell a home in Mansfield, Texas, the things buyers are concerned about may not be exactly the same as what buyers prioritize in Arlington, Texas, Burleson, Texas, Kennedale, Texas, or Grand Prairie, Texas.

And even within the same city, buyer expectations can vary by neighborhood, price range, age of the home and type of property.

You don't necessarily want to spend thousands of dollars fixing every little thing you find.

The goal isn't to create a perfect house.

The goal is to understand your home's condition and make smart decisions about where your money and time will have the greatest impact.

That's a conversation I have with sellers all the time.

Don't Just Look at the Highest Offer

When the offers start coming in, it can be tempting to look at one number:

“Which buyer is offering me the most money?”

But that's only part of the story.

A strong offer should be evaluated as a whole.

Consider:

• Purchase price

• Financing type

• Down payment

• Earnest money

• Option period and terms

• Inspection-related provisions

• Financing and appraisal contingencies

• Whether the buyer needs to sell another home

• Requested seller concessions

• Proposed closing date

• How well the timeline fits your plans

Sometimes the highest offer isn't necessarily the strongest offer.

A slightly lower offer with fewer complications may ultimately put you in a better position to reach the closing table.

That's exactly why having an experienced agent review the entire offer, rather than just the price, is so important.

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What Does This Mean for Sellers in North Texas?

If you're thinking about selling your home in Mansfield, Texas, Arlington, Texas, Burleson, Texas, Kennedale, Texas or Grand Prairie, Texas, don't let a national statistic convince you that your sale is likely to fall apart.

The real estate market is incredibly local.

The condition of your home, the neighborhood, your price range, buyer demand, the terms of the offer and the specific contract all matter.

And the Fort Worth-Arlington area has shown that local conditions can differ from national trends. Redfin's data has recently shown higher-than-national cancellation rates in the Fort Worth, Texas metro, which is another reason sellers should have a thoughtful strategy before accepting an offer.

The goal isn't to eliminate every possible risk.

That's impossible.

The goal is to identify the risks you can control and address them before they become problems.

That might mean getting a pre-listing inspection.

It might mean making a few strategic repairs.

It might mean pricing the home appropriately from the beginning.

Or it might mean carefully evaluating the terms and strength of each offer rather than automatically accepting the highest number.

Sometimes the smartest move is simply staying one step ahead.

Thinking About Selling Your Home?

If you're considering selling a home in Mansfield, Texas, Arlington, Texas, Burleson, Texas, Kennedale, Texas, Grand Prairie, Texas or another North Texas community, I'd be happy to help you figure out what preparation makes sense for your particular property.

Every home is different, and every local market is different. What makes sense for one seller may not be the right strategy for another.

Before you put that “For Sale” sign in the yard, let's talk about your home, your timeline and what buyers are looking for in your specific market.

I'm Stephanie Deeds, Broker/Owner of Point Realty, and I'd love to help you make a plan that gets you from “For Sale” to the closing table with as few surprises as possible.

Source & Attribution

The market insights and discussion of why home sales fall through were originally presented by Keeping Current Matters (KCM) in its article on reducing the risk of a home sale falling apart before closing. This article has been rewritten and expanded with local perspective for homeowners and sellers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The underlying cancellation data referenced here comes from Redfin, including its analysis of home-purchase cancellations and survey of Redfin agents regarding the reasons transactions fall through.

Information regarding pre-listing inspections is also informed by Zillow's seller resources and consumer housing research.