Yesterday, we posted Part 1 of A Guide to Real Estate Terms.  This is intended to help people new to Real Estate and people who have been awy for a while to get comfortable with the terms, and know what homes to make an offer on and which are already too late.  Without further ado, here’s part 2of A Guide to Real Estate Terms.

A Guide to Real Estate Terms

Contingent

A Contingent sale is a different animal from Under Contract or AWC.  This means that while the house is under contract, there are a number of Contingencies (see what we did there?) that must be met before the sale is completed.  These are usually: the home inspection, review by attorneys, financing, appraisal, and the title search, any of which could trip up the sale.  As these are completed, the home can move from Contingent to Closed.  HOWEVER, if you really want a home and it’s just under Contingent status, you can still swoop in and make an offer.  A home can still be shown during Contingency, and the seller can hold onto a backup offer in case the Contingencies fail and the sale collapses.

Deal pending (DP)

Escrow.  This is the Escrow period, basically.  The seller has an accepted offer and a fully executed contract, the Contingencies are passed, and they are at the pending sale step.  Right now, the buyer and seller are working together to close this deal.  You’ll see this status all the way until the close.  While deals here rarely fall through, if you put in an offer here, and it’s accepted as a backup, and the deal falls through, you’re the first person they call.

Pending, showing for backup

Just like it sounds, the home sale is Pending, but they are on the hunt for backup offers, actively searching in case the sale falls through.

Pending, subject to lender approval

Now we’re Pending, but we’re still checking to see if the lender is going to give their approval on the sale.  This is by no means a done deal, so feel free to put in an offer and see if you can get in as a backup.  Lenders will occasionally not approve of deals depending on how the buyer has behaved (financially) during the sale process.

Come back next week for Part 3 of A Guide to Real Estate Terms!

If you’re ready to buy or sell your home, Rick & Tracy Ellis are ready to make your dream come true.  Call us today at 636-299-3702, email us directly at tracy@tracyellis.com, and visit tracyellis.com for more information on buying and selling your home.  You can also listen to the “The Rick and Tracy Ellis Show” every Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.