The San Diego MLS known as SANDICOR has a new status. 

Up until recently we have dealt with Active, Pending, Sold, Expired, Cancelled and Withdraw - the usual routine. The shifts in the market has resulted in some long-needed changes with regard to short sale, pre-foreclosure and REO listings. The MLS had previously added some additional commentary agents were asked to include so folks would know what was going on with these properties (e.g., was there an accepted offer pending short approval by the lender).

There is also a field for agents to designate if lender approval (or court approval) is needed or not - this is REQUIRED, yet this is not always used correctly, since some short sales are not noted as such in this field, and some REOs are. We are at the mercy of the agent's competency! 

The new status that was recently implemented, CONTINGENT, is for those properties where an offer has been accepted by the seller and is awaiting approval by the lender(s) or the court, under a variety of circumstances. Thus it is not pending in the usual sense of the term since there is no "acceptance" by the bank. Here is the wording from the SANDICOR Rules and Regulations;

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10.1.1. Contingent Status. The Mandatory Remarks field in the MLS must be modified if any one or a combination of circumstances listed in (a) through (f ) are in effect and meet the criteria below:

(a) Offer accepted contingent on court approval

(b) Offer accepted pending lender approval of Short Sale

(c) Offer(s) submitted awaiting lender approval of Short Sale

(d) Offer(s) submitted awaiting REO approval

(e) Offer accepted with __ hour first right of refusal  

Offers submitted to parties other than the seller as described in (c), (d) and (e) are under review and are not considered accepted offers. Once the Mandatory Remarks has been modified the listing shall be moved into a Contingent status. Listings in a Contingent status are considered to be on-market and under a valid listing contract.

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The good news for buyers, and agents, is that it will be clear (or more clear) what the status is. Agents are now required to state if one of the above conditions is in place, which then results in the Contingency status automatically by the next day once the system updates. 

This information will be a great aid in buyer market reports to give them a better handle on what is going on in the market with regard to distress sales.  It will also be a good demonstration of the activity in the market so buyers can see that a good percentage of the homes that are distress sales already have offers pending lender approval and they are prepared accordingly if they are considering offers.

Tracking the trends in this status each month should be useful information for ourselves and for our clients.

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If I can provide more information about Carlsbad and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

All content copyright © 2009 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits