What do you mean that home is sold?

Buying a Home

Mar 10

Written By Christine McLellan - William Raveis Real Estate, Hingham, MA

… or is no longer available?

First, let me apologize for our industry when you see a Home “for sale” online and you find out from me or your real estate agent that the home is already sold or no longer available. I know this info is always disappointing. There are a great number of reasons this happens - so let me try to talk about a few of them.

1. The real estate market is moving at warp speed

As you likely know the 2021 the Real Estate market has started out on 🔥fire🔥! Due to a lack of good homes to choose from, homebuyers are making offers as soon as homes are coming on the market and many homes are selling almost immediately. It is not unusual to have a home be newly listed on Thursday, limited showings over the weekend and then the seller has accepted an offer on Monday.

However, logistically it can take a couple of days before the Real Estate agent can indicate the property is off the market. Most real estate brokerage have policies to not mark a home as off the market until the buyer’s initial deposit check is received. So even though a home looks like it is still available, there may be an accepted offer. Your buyer’s agent can make a super quick phone call to confirm this.

2. Real Estate Listing statuses are not always super clear

The industry has come a long way since the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) required real estate brokerages to keep the shared listing information confidential, however there are still times where the info presented isn’t all that obvious. It is helpful if you learn to decipher the real estate property statuses to see what is going on. Here is the (not-so) secret decoder ring for property statuses for MLSPIN used in most of Massachusetts.

On-Market = available to be seen and if interested, the buyer can make an offer on the property.

NEW = “New.” Just that. This home is just now listed for sale and new to the market (not a new home, but a new listing). A property shows up as NEW for 3 days then changes to Active.
ACT = “Active.” Home is for sale and available to be sold.
PCG = “Price Changed.” Home is for sale and the list price has recently changed either up or down.
BOM = “Back on Market.” The property was taken off the market for some reason and now is available again for sale. An agent can usually find out more details pretty easily.
EXT = “Extended.” Home is available for sale and the brokerage and seller have extended their contract.
RAC = “Reactivated.” Home was off the market but not didn’t sell in that time frame. This home is now listed again and for sale by the same brokerage.

Might be Available = an offer to purchase has been accepted by the seller. Depending on the circumstances, the property could still be seen and ”backup offers” submitted in case the accepted offer falls through.

CTG = “Contingent.” This means an offer has been accepted by the seller however the transaction has a “Contingency” or provision where either the buyer, seller or both could choose to not complete the sale based on one or more contractual reasons. Depending on the situation a seller can continue to show the home until Contingencies are resolved. During this time any subsequent offers are held as backup in case that provision comes to pass.

Off Market statuses = property is no longer considered for sale.

UAG = “Under Agreement.” Home has an accepted offer and there is a contract in place. At this point the sales process is continuing and both the home buyer and seller expect the sale to be completed.
SLD = “Sold.” Yup, exactly what it sounds like. Home is sold.
WDN = “Temporarily Withdrawn.” Seller has asked the property be removed from the market. This could be for any reason but most commonly there is a property or personal situation that needs time to resolve.
EXP = “Expired.” Home did not sell in the listing contract timeframe. It is now off the market with that real estate brokerage. It can be relisted with that brokerage or another or stay off the market.
CAN = “Canceled.” Home is no longer being listed with that real estate brokerage and is off the market. It can be relisted with that brokerage or another or stay off the market.

Try to find a real estate website or mobile app that shows you the full real estate statuses. This helps you keep the most informed.

3. Data hiccups

“Technology is glitchy.” - Emily Kent

It happens. Sometimes an update from MLS doesn’t isn’t transmitted, received or accepted by the real estate website or mobile app. This can happen with any of the info, but it is most confusing if a status change or price change is missed. This happens least frequently with the best known apps or websites such as: Realtor.com, Zillow, or Trulia or real estate brokerage sites like Raveis.com.

4. Nefarious websites or apps

Sometimes in your search you may find yourself on a lesser known website that shows homes you haven’t seen anywhere else or are offered at incredible prices. Just remember, the old adage still applies

“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

There are some apps and websites out there that are looking to capture your info or will ask you to pay for a subscription by teasing you with homes that are not for sale or no longer for sale. I do not now of any reason a real estate website should charge you for that information. If you see homes on these sites, just give me or your real estate agent a call to check on those properties - lets find out what those companies are really “selling.”

Sometimes a website might be offering you the “inside scoop” on upcoming foreclosure properties which sounds like they might be sources of good real estate deals.

First of all, in 2021 it takes a LONG TIME (sometimes years) for a foreclosure to take place. Most properties marked as “pre-foreclosure” will never be foreclosed upon - thankfully there are many opportunities and paths for the homeowner to exit this status without losing their home. If you are serious about buying a foreclosure, let’s talk about the pros & cons and what any additional costs there may be to you the buyer.

Your Real Estate agent is your best source of information

Find a real estate agent you know and trust. Your agent should be able to answer your questions about available properties and to find out more about a property’s history for you.

Even better, hire a real estate agent who is also an Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR) like me. When you work with an ABR. you’ll be served, not sold. Your interests become their interests. And they will make your home buying experience go as smoothly and successfully as possible.

Any questions? Get in touch!