Home Listing Status Matters
Just like there’s First Class versus Coach and Black Amex versus Green, home listing status matters in residential real estate, too. When shopping for a home in today’s Mission Viejo, CA market, it is most productive for buyers to focus on houses in Active status. 
When a home listings status is Active, this is where the seller is still looking for a qualified buyer. They usually have no offers in hand, or if they do have an offer, they have not reached an agreement with the buyer and therefore another buyer has a chance to make an offer. You’d just have to hurry.
When a home listing status is Back Up Offer, this is a different animal. Back Up Offer status means the seller has a signed contract with a buyer. The seller will consider additional offers, and if an agreement can be reached, that contract is put in Back Up position, contingent on the cancellation of the existing contract.
Why in the world would a buyer in today’s market even spend an ounce of energy on looking at, considering an offer, making an offer and negotiating an offer only to be placed on hold with the outcome of your home purchase resting in the hands of another buyer? Someone you don’t know and who you certainly cannot influence. Well, in most California residential real estate transactions, the buyer has 17 days from the date a signed agreement has been reached between the buyer and the seller. During that 17 days a lot of things can happen. So that’s really the bottom line in pursuing house in Back Up Offer status – you are betting on the buyer to cancel.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. This is truly a low percentage strategy. But in some cases, it might make sense. Consider these top four reasons buyers cancel purchase agreements today and consider your willingness to take a gamble.
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They no longer qualify for financing. Interest rates have been bobbing up and down and there’s further speculation about what the future will bring. An increase in interest rates can push the payments outside of the buyer’s affordability zone and therefore disqualify him from the purchase. The buyer has to cancel their agreement.
- Finding something unacceptable during the home inspection. Mold, slab leak, previous water damage, zoning, unpermitted additions – these and other discoveries have been known to cause buyers to cancel their agreement.
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Finding something unacceptable on the Natural Hazard report. Soil liquefaction, earthquake fault lines, high fire hazard areas and flood zones have been known to make buyers uncomfortable enough to cancel their agreement.
- Finding something unacceptable on the Termite Report. Dry wood termites don’t appeal to many people. The thought of fumigation is distasteful to some. These have been known to cause buyers to cancel their agreement.
- Purchasing another home. In the case of a Short Sale, the buyer may have lost patience waiting for the bank to reply and may have entered a contract to purchase another home. Despite the shaky legality of such behavior, it has been known to cause a buyer to cancel their agreement.
Of course, if your Back Up Offer becomes the accepted offer, you have 17 days to decide if you’re comfortable with the facts concerning the property and see if you want to stay in the deal. Oh, it might be helpful to know that some lucky Back Up buyers do request a price reduction based on the information received concerning the condition of the home. Which home listing status will command your concentration?
I'm Leslie Eskildsen. Keeping it Real in Mission Viejo Real Estate.
949-678-3373 Click here to start your home search.
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This blog was originally posted here: http://www.whatagentsfeartellingyou.com/mission-viejo-home-listing-status-matters/
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