{"id":39814,"date":"2023-12-30T08:17:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T16:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=39814"},"modified":"2024-08-08T09:04:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T16:04:10","slug":"buyer-under-contract-versus-pending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-under-contract-versus-pending\/","title":{"rendered":"Under Contract vs. Pending: A Home Buyer&#8217;s Guide to Status Tags"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Searching for a home to buy can be a time of excitement and anxiety. You may be building an online watchlist of homes you\u2019re interested in seeing, but then you notice a label tagging your favorite property listing as \u201cunder contract\u201d or \u201csale pending.\u201d You wonder, what\u2019s the difference between under contract versus pending?<\/p>\n<p>Can you make an offer on a home that&#8217;s under contract? What buyer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-does-contingent-mean-in-real-estate\/\">contingencies<\/a> might put a listing back on the market? What home contingency missteps should you avoid when making an offer?<\/p>\n<p>In this post, we\u2019ll explain terms like \u201cunder contract,\u201d \u201csale pending,\u201d and \u201cactive under contract\u201d and how they might impact your home-buying journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find a Top Agent With Experience in Contingency Offers<\/h3>\n                        <p>If you need to make an offer on a home with contingencies, you&#8217;ll want a top agent by your side who can avoid pitfalls and secure the home you want. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Started<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What does \u2018under contract\u2019 mean?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What does \u2018under contract\u2019 mean when buying a home?<\/h2>\n<p>When you find a home listing marked as \u201cunder contract,\u201d it indicates that the seller has accepted an offer from a buyer, but the sale is not yet final. While under contract, there are typically contingencies in the buyer\u2019s offer that need to be resolved before the sale moves forward. If contingencies are not met, the deal might fall through.<\/p>\n<h3>Contingencies while \u2018under contract\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Here are some common types of contingencies in residential home sales:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Financing contingency: <\/strong>A financing or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-mortgage-contingency\/\">mortgage contingency<\/a> safeguards buyers who need to finalize a home loan. If the buyer fails to secure financing, they can withdraw without losing their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-what-is-earnest-money\/\">deposit<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Appraisal contingency:<\/strong> Lenders typically require an appraisal to confirm the home\u2019s value before approving a mortgage loan. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-is-an-appraisal-contingency\/\">appraisal contingency<\/a> allows the buyer to either renegotiate their offer or freely walk away from the agreement if the appraisal comes in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-appraisal-lower-than-offer\/\">under the contracted offer price<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Inspection contingency: <\/strong>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-inspection-contingency-clause\/\">contingency clause<\/a> allows the buyer to have a professional inspection of the property and then decide whether to move forward with the purchase. Significant issues discovered can lead to renegotiations, repairs, or even contract termination without consequences for the buyer.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Home sale contingency:<\/strong> A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-home-sale-contingency\/\">home sale contingency<\/a> says that if the buyer doesn\u2019t sell their current home before a specific date, then the contract can be terminated without penalty. Making an offer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-contingent-upon-selling-house\/\">contingent on the sale of an existing home<\/a> is often necessary for buyers who need to use equity to afford the down payment or closing costs on a new house. Sellers are often wary of this clause.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Can I make an offer on an \u2018under contract\u2019 home?<\/h3>\n<p>While a home is under contract, it&#8217;s still possible, though less likely, for other offers to be considered. If contingencies fall through and the initial deal collapses, the property may become available again. However, it&#8217;s important to have realistic expectations and continue exploring other options in your home search.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unravel the meanings of &#8216;under contract versus pending&#8217; in real estate. This guide offers clear insights for homebuyers on contingencies, offers, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":39818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,638,342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-house-hunting","category-negotiations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Under Contract vs. Pending: A Home Buyer&#039;s Guide to Status Tags<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unravel the meanings of &#039;under contract versus pending&#039; in real estate. This guide offers insights for homebuyers on contingencies &amp; offers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-under-contract-versus-pending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Under Contract vs. Pending: A Home Buyer&#039;s Guide to Status Tags\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unravel the meanings of &#039;under contract versus pending&#039; in real estate. This guide offers insights for homebuyers on contingencies &amp; offers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-under-contract-versus-pending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-30T16:17:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-08T16:04:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/HomeLight-Featured-Image-20.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Haddad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Haddad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Under Contract vs. Pending: A Home Buyer's Guide to Status Tags","description":"Unravel the meanings of 'under contract versus pending' in real estate. 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Previously, he served as an editor and content producer for World Company, Gannett, and Western News &amp; Info, where he also served as news director and director of internet operations.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/richard-w-haddad"],"url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/author\/richardhaddad\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}