If you are a first time buyer or moving to Westchester County from another part of the country you may receive listings from a Realtor©  Real Estate terms mean different things all across the country so you can't assume that if you bought real estate in let's say Florida or Arizona that when it says "pending" on the listing that it means the same thing as up here.  There are also differences within the metropolitan area so the following just applies to Westchester County.

ACTIVE - these are properties that are active on the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service.  Properties stay active until a contract is actually signed.  A property with an accepted offer will still show as active and you may or may not be able to still view it - up to the seller.

CONDITIONAL CONTRACT - the status will change from active to conditional contract when both the buyer and the seller have signed the contract.  There might be contingencies such as a mortgage contingency in the contract which is why it is called a conditional contract.

PENDING -  the status will change when all of the contingencies in the contract have been met, the mortgage committment obtained and everything is done.

SOLD - the status will change to sold when the title passes and the property changes ownership.