What Does It Mean When a Property is Pending???

When buyers are looking at houses for sale, they sometimes come across a property for sale that is marked pending.  What does it really mean when a property is pending?

When a property is pending, it means that the seller and the buyer have actually signed a contract to buy and sell the house.  Most purchase agreements state that the property needs to be marked pending, and the seller will not continue to show the property to potential buyers.  This will protect the buyer because it locks up the property for sale and, no one else can view it.  However, some contracts do state that the seller can still hold the property open for showings until after the home inspection contingency has been met.  The buyer and the seller are still in a binding contract, but this will protect the seller in a busy market in case the buyer decides to not buy the home after they have done their private home inspection.  The seller cannot sign any other offers when they have already signed one, but they can continue to show the home as well as take back up offers.  They just can't sign any until they are released from the initial contract.  During this period, sellers can mark their property continue to show for back up offers.  

Buyers will also ask if they could offer better terms for the seller to accept?  The answer is almost no.  A buyer can offer better terms than the initial offer, however, it can only be a back up offer, and only signed by the seller if the initial offer falls through.  An advantage to doing this as a seller does put pressure on the current buyer.  The buyer may not be able to try to negotiate after their private home inspection.  The seller would probably not be willing to do any negotiations in regards to price or repairs knowing that there are other offers as back ups.  The caveat could be that by the time the seller gets to the back up offers, they are no longer valid.  Trust your real estate agent in how you should handle every situation.  They have property experienced it before.

 

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