Home > Blogs > Bill Burchard > William Burchard, Broker, Real Estate Blog

Home Buying Tips in Murrieta, CA: What Does the Home's "Status" Mean?

By Bill Burchard

Real Estate Broker/Owner with 3B Realty: 951-347-3818, CA DRE# 01864774

February 08, 2011 12:15 AM

Home Buying Tips in Murrieta, CA: What Does the Home's "Status" Mean?

As a service to my buyers, I set up automated home searches for them. I enter their home-search criteria: Number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage of the home and/or the property, specific neighborhoods and price range, and so on. (These are just a few of the criteria I can define.) Then every day, when new listings are added to the California Regional MLS (Multiple Listing Service) my buyers automatically receive emails of just those newly listed homes that match their criteria. It’s an easy way to search for homes.

One of the questions my buyers often ask when they start looking through their list of homes is what a home’s “Status” means.

A home’s Status, basically, tells us whether the home is still offered for sale. When the Status shows “A” it means that the home is “Active” and that the sellers are accepting offers to purchase. But when my buyers see other letters such as “B” or “P” ...”H” or “W” ...they’re curious what each designation means. Does it mean the home is no longer for sale? (Maybe.) Does it mean that my buyers can still make an offer to purchase? (Again, maybe.) To answer their questions, I provide them with the following list of Status definitions:

Active (A): A home that is for sale. You may submit an offer to purchase.
Backup (B): An offer was accepted, but the home is still for sale. You may submit an offer to purchase.
Hold (H): A home that is temporarily not for sale. You cannot submit an offer to purchase until the home’s Status changes to Active.
Pending (P): A home where an offer was accepted and is no longer for sale. You cannot submit an offer to purchase.
Withdrawn (W): A home that is no longer for sale. You cannot submit an offer to purchase.
Cancel (K): A home that is no longer for sale. You cannot submit an offer to purchase.
Expired (X): A home that is no longer for sale. You cannot submit an offer to purchase.
Sold (S): A home that was sold. You cannot submit an offer to purchase.

Keep in mind that a home’s status can change at any time, and that it can change multiple times. For example, it can change from Active to Withdrawn, and then later change back to Active. This doesn’t always happen, but it can.

Re-Blog

Comments(9)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Glenn Roberts

Retired - Seattle, WA

Good information, Bill. Most often when a property is off the market, it's not seen by the puplic online anymore. They wonder if it sold or not.

Feb 08, 2011 01:03 AM

Bill Burchard

3B Realty: 951-347-3818, CA - Murrieta, CA

Broker, Realtor, Representing Buyers and Sellers

Good morning, Glenn! You’re absolutely right. When someone reviews their list of homes, they typically only see “Active” homes display under the Auto Email tab. However, in the above example, the graphic shows a search that I set up for one of my home sellers who wanted to track the market activity in her neighborhood. (She was keeping an eye on her competition.) That’s why the Auto Email tab shows homes whose Status is Active, Pending, and Backup.

There are other circumstances where non-Active Status designations appear as well, under the Favorites tab, the Possibilities tab, and the Discarded tab. These three tabs always show the home’s current status, including homes that are sold or whose listing was canceled.

Feb 08, 2011 06:42 AM

Jason M. Keith

Caliber Home Loans - Parker, CO

Equal Housing Lender

Bill, great information here. That is very helpful for your buyers!

Feb 08, 2011 06:45 AM

Brian L. Sirota, Esq.

Bristar Realty (Realtor/Attorney) - Orange, CA

For Solutions: (714) 501-7660

Nice post Bill. As you aptly mention, defining terminology is especially important for those clients whose searches we place on auto-pilot. Even for the California realtor, many confuse "pending" and "back-up" status.

It's also helpful to the out of state realtor who wishes to refer business, but uses different terminology to describe property status. Anything we do to help them understand our system increases the likelihood of a referral.

Feb 08, 2011 06:52 AM

Hi Jason. Thanks for the compliment!

Thanks Brian! I agree... it’s nice to have this list available for both clients and out-of-state agents.

Feb 08, 2011 08:14 AM

Lora "Leah" Stern 914-772-4528

Coldwell Banker, 170 N Main Street, New City NY 10956 - New City, NY

Real Estate Salesperson

Bill, interesting that types of status varies by MLS and location. Thanks for your list of status

Feb 08, 2011 12:35 PM

Hi Leah. You’re welcome!

Feb 08, 2011 12:37 PM

Jim Frimmer

HomeSmart Realty West - San Diego, CA

Realtor & CDPE, Mission Valley specialist

I have never seen Backup in our MLS. Also, we have “Contingent” as a status down here.

Feb 10, 2011 01:49 PM

Hey Jim! I think “Contingent” is a useful option. It lets other buyers know that may have a good chance of buying the home if they submit a non-contingent offer.

Feb 11, 2011 03:06 AM

Home Buying Tips in Murrieta, CA: What Does the Home's "Status" Mean?

Comments(9)

Bill Burchard

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts