Is That Home Already Sold or Under Contract?

One of the best features of searching on my website or having a Portal web page is the ability to see the current, accurate status of any listed property. You will know immediately if there is an accepted offer or price change on that home you have marked as a Favorite. If you are searching using Trulia, Zillow or most other public advertising web sites, status is often not given, or not current, so there is no way to know with certainty if a house you love is already under contract...or even long ago, sold.

Status Types:

Status - whether the property is still "for sale" or under contract.

• Active (ACT) - Available for sale. Not currently under contract.
• Under Contract Show (UCS) - A listing will show this status designation after an offer has been accepted if the seller would still like the home to be shown for back-up offers.
• Under Contract No Showings (UCNS) - A listing will show this status designation after an offer has been accepted where the seller has requested no more showings. (Only visible in a Portal)
• Due Diligence Period (DDP) - When added to the Under Contract status, this means that the property is under contract and the buyer is in their Due Diligence Period. (Only visible in a Portal)
• Withdrawn (WITH)- the property has been pulled off the market. (Only visible in a Portal)
• Expired (EXP) - the listing agreement has ended. The seller may extend the listing, change agents, or leave the house off the market. (Only visible in a Portal)
• Coming Soon (CS) - Properties that are scheduled to be listed at a specific date in the Future (within 3 weeks.) This new status is used by some listing agents to generate advance excitement. Showing appointments can be scheduled for the future listing date. Properties with this status cannot even be seen by agents. I can keep you alerted to any property Coming Soon that might interest you.

Definitions:

Due Diligence Period - Most traditional home sales in NC will have a "due diligence period" (DDP) as part of the contract. The buyer pays the seller directly a fee as part of the offer called a due diligence fee. That fee "buys" the time the buyer requests to complete inspections, appraisal, financing, title search, survey, and anything else that the buyer feels they need to do before committing to the purchase of the home. A home that shows a status of DDP has an accepted offer that is within the due diligence period. At any time before 5:00 p.m. on the due diligence date in the contract, the buyer can terminate the contract for any reason, or no reason at all. The seller keeps the due diligence fee. If the sale closes, it is applied to the purchase price.

Back-Up Offer - Buyers can submit an offer on a property that is already Under Contract, as a Back-Up Offer. In those cases, their offer would only come into play if the first contract is terminated by the first buyer. This is very rarely a good situation for the second buyer. Only a small percentage of Under Contract properties do not close.

The Status That You See:

Searching on Find A Home Carolina: 

If you run a search yourself on this web site, you will only receive homes that are Active (available.)  When you save a "Favorite" Active property, it stays in your Favorites. When/if it goes Under Contract, you will see the Status change there. When it closes, you can see what it sells for. On the Advanced Search tab, you can also choose to search homes that have Sold to see what homes in that neighborhood have sold for over the last 3 years.

On my website, you can look up any property by address or MLS# and see the true current status. This is a good way to check properties you see on other websites that are less current, or accurate (such as Zillow.) The status you see on my website will always be the most up-to-the-minute true status.

In Your Portal: 

If I have set you up with your own Portal website, you will see when the status of a property changes instantly and all types of status will show. Find out more about getting a Portal.

Public Advertising Sites: 

If you see a listing on a public site (such as realtor.com, Trulia, or Zillow) that does not show on my web site, it means that property is not really available. (Check it by looking it up on my site by property address or MLS#.) Public sites often continue to showcase listings that are long ago sold, expired, or withdrawn just to generate more calls for their advertisers. Zillow also lists many properties as pre-foreclosure that are not (and may never be) available for sale. (Read more about Pre-Foreclosure.)

My web site Search information is always accurate and current and your personal Portal web site is current up-to-the-second. If you do not already have a Portal set up, you can request one whenever you feel ready.

Feel free to call or email me at any time for assistance with no obligation.