What Does Contingent Mean When Buying a House?

It's a Saturday morning and you are looking at houses on Zillow. You find one you love that you want to look at, but it has a status of "Contingent". What does it mean? Is it still for sale? Can you put an offer on it? Let's look at all the different statuses you might see on houses for sale either on Zillow or through your local MLS. In the MLS for Southern Arizona, there are 11 different statuses that properties will have: Coming Soon, Active, Signature Pending, Cancellation Provision, Pending Short Sale Approval, Active Contingent, Pending, Closed, Expired, Temp Off Market, Cancelled. Here's what they all mean:

• Coming Soon: This status indicates that a property will be available for sale in the near future but is not yet officially on the market. Limited information may be provided to agents and potential buyers during this period. During this status you might only see one photo for the house because they haven't done a photo shoot. Check back in a few days - once it has turned to "active" there will likely be more photos and information.
• Active: A property marked as active is currently available for sale and actively being marketed. Showings are typically allowed, and offers can be made.
• Signature Pending: This status indicates that the seller has verbally accepted an offer and is pending a signature(s).
• Cancellation Provision: This status indicates that the listing agreement has been signed, but there's a provision allowing the seller to cancel the current offer with a replacement offer
• Pending Short Sale Approval: When a property is in this status, it means that an offer has been accepted by the seller, but the sale is contingent upon the lender's approval of a short sale (selling the property for less than the remaining mortgage balance).
• Active Contingent: This status indicates that the seller is still permitting showing appointments and is accepting backup offers. Certain contingencies must be met before the sale can proceed. Common contingencies include inspections, appraisal, or the sale of the buyer's existing home.
• Pending: Similar to active contingent, but the seller is not allowing showing appointments or backup offers.
• Closed: This status indicates that the sale of the property has been completed, and ownership has transferred from the seller to the buyer. The transaction is finalized, and the property is no longer available for sale on the MLS.
• Expired: If a listing agreement expires without the property being sold, the status changes to expired, indicating that the property is no longer actively listed for sale.
• Temp Off Market: This status indicates that the property is temporarily taken off the market by the seller or listing agent, but it may return to active status later.
• Cancelled: This status indicates that the listing agreement has been terminated before the property is sold. It typically happens by mutual agreement between the seller and the listing agent.

A real estate agent can help you understand the differences between these status updates and the opportunities and challenges that come with each status. If you are looking at houses in Arizona and ready to get inside and tour a few, just schedule a block of time and we can tour any houses that you are interested in.

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