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\n <\/div>\n \n Find a Top Agent With Experience in Contingency Offers<\/h3>\n
If you need to make an offer on a home with contingencies, you’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
What does \u2018under contract\u2019 mean?<\/h2>\n
\u201c\u2018Under contract\u2019 is more or less a meeting of the minds,\u201d says Julie H. Kaczor<\/a>, a top-selling agent from Illinois with 33 years of experience. \u201cIt means the buyer and seller have agreed to the terms of the contract, such as the price, the closing date, the personal property, the earnest money, tax preparation, and contingencies.\u201d<\/p>\n It sounds pretty straightforward, right? But Kaczor explains that while \u201cunder contract\u201d indicates that the seller has accepted an offer from a buyer, the deal is not yet final. In most cases, there are contingencies<\/a> in the buyer\u2019s offer that need to be cleared before the transaction is moved to the more solid \u201csale pending\u201d status.<\/p>\n Oriana Shea<\/a>, a top-rated agent in California who has been helping homebuyers for 29 years, says that, depending on local multiple list service<\/a> (MLS) rules and where the property is located, a listing might actually be tagged as \u201ccontingent\u201d rather than under contract. \u201cBoth indicate that the buyer and seller have come to a ratified agreement,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n To fully understand what \u201cunder contract\u201d means, let\u2019s take a look at some of the contingencies that might be attached to such a listing.<\/p>\n There are four common types of real estate contract contingencies. After you open escrow and the buyer submits a good faith earnest money<\/a> deposit, some or all of the following contingencies may need to be addressed:<\/p>\n If all the conditions in a purchase agreement are met, the sale can move forward. Alternatively, if the conditions aren\u2019t met, the house could go back on the market.<\/p>\n If some contingencies haven\u2019t been met, the buyer\u2019s agent can ask for an extension to the contract. Kaczor notes this is usually because the lender or another party in the transaction needs additional time to button everything up.<\/p>\n \u201cThen the question is: Why?\u201d Kaczor explains. \u201cThe buyer can call up and say, \u2018Hey, I want to extend my finance contingency at my lender\u2019s request because they couldn\u2019t process the paperwork.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She provides another example: \u201cSuppose there\u2019s a contingency on a house sale, and they\u2019re supposed to close in 60 days, but the buyer couldn\u2019t sell their home within that time. The buyer can ask for a 30-day extension and continue to try to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is a house “under contract” still available? We explain what this status means, how it differs from pending, and your options as an interested buyer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":39827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,638,342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-house-hunting","category-negotiations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat contingencies might be attached to \u2018under contract\u2019 listings?<\/h3>\n
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Can I get more time if a contingency hasn\u2019t been met?<\/h3>\n