A Traverse City realtor breaks down three listing statuses that mean the same thing: contingent, under contract, and pending all signal a signed purchase agreement. Contingent means the deal depends on inspections or financing. Once those clear, it becomes pending while the title company readies closing, usually about a week. Backup offers can bump you to first position if the main deal falls through.
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Hey there, I'm out at Leelanau State Park about to take DeeDee for a walk/run here. It's out the state park that's out by the airport. Anyway, I'm coming to you just with some quick information. I get some questions related to what does it mean when I look on Zillow or Realtor.com or one of those online house hunting apps, if you will, And it says contingent. What does that mean? What does pending mean? What does under contract mean? Well, a lot of times these terms are used interchangeably. Contingent means that it's under contract, meaning there is a fully executed buy-sell agreement or purchase agreement on the property signed by both the buyer and the seller. But then there's this time when contingencies that are in the contract, for example, the purchase agreement is an agreement contingent upon satisfactory inspections, contingent upon the buyer being able to procure financing, for example. So once those contingencies have been met and satisfied, so the inspection period has passed, the lender gives the clear to close, then typically, technically, that's called the pending stage then. If all the contingencies have been satisfied but you have yet to close, because typically it takes about a week or so for the title company once the lender says clear to close, or whatever the last contingency is that's been met, it usually takes about a week between that last contingency being met and the title company having everything in order to actually execute the closing. That time period is referred to as the pending time period. But a lot of times those terms are used interchangeably: pending, contingent, under contract. Um, and, uh, still though, if you're a buyer interested, you might want to check out my video on using backup offers, you know, putting yourself in a secondary position to someone who's already under contract, a buyer that's already got a fully executed purchase agreement. Because if those contingencies fail, in other words, something goes wrong with inspections or they're not able to qualify for a loan or whatever, any number of other contingencies aren't satisfied, then if you've got a backup offer, you can move into first position. So check out that video. And there you go. Thanks a lot.
