When learning to navigate your way around the real estate industry, you may realize there is particular jargon that you simply don’t understand. Similar to any other business, real estate professionals are constantly generating new terms that are tailored to industry-specific projects, events, and deals. Without the proper understanding of this language, it may be easy to make mistakes, or even be taken advantage of. In order to avoid confusion, below is a list of important real estate listing statuses that you can add to your industry vocabulary
- Active: This term describes a property that is currently available for sale. There may be offers on the table, but none have been accepted yet which means it is still an active listing.
- Closed: This term means that a property is sold, and no longer available to buyers.
- Active with contract: This phrase means that although the home has accepted an offer, the seller is still accepting backup offers incase the sale falls through. These circumstances must be listed in the contract to keep all buyers aware of the process, and it is most commonly used with short sales.
- Under contract: This phrase means that the seller has written up a contract with a potential buyer. This does not mean the sale is confirmed.
- Contingent: This term describes a situation where the seller has accepted an offer, and the home is under contract. However, the sale is pending based on certain criteria that must be met before closing the deal. Examples of this include home inspections, title search, financing, appraisal, etc.
- Deal pending: This phrase means the seller has accepted an offer with an executed contract, and all contingencies have been met. The home is currently pending sale, and both buyer, and seller are working toward a closing. During this period the sale is still not definite, however, and a seller is able to accept backup offers.
- Pending, showing for backup: This phrase means the property’s owners are actively accepting backup offers in case the original offer falls through.
- Pending, subject to lender approval: This means the seller has accepted an offer, but is waiting to see if the buyer’s bank has approved the offer. If not, the property will end up back on the market.
- Back on market: This means that a property has come back on the market after a pending sale, potentially due to contract issues.
- Expired: This means that the property listing via the agent has expired, and is no longer active, usually because the property didn’t sell. However, the seller is often open to accepting an offer if a buyer is interested.
- Temporarily off the market: This means the owner has removed the listing for a short period of time, often because work is being done on the property, or because it cannot be shown to potential buyers at this time.
- Withdrawn: This term means a property was withdrawn from the reality market, often because the seller changed their mind and decided not to sell the property, or because they did not receive any offers that matched their standards.
Author: Tara Doherty
