Stages Of A Listing
Once you decide your home is ready to hit the market, its time to buckle up for the roller coaster ride that’s about to begin. Your home will need to hit a few check points on its way to the closing table and in todays entry we are going to walk you through each one.
A home is going to move through a few stages in the process. You may see them listed as active, under contract, pending and closed. Each market may use different terms, but most homes will go through a similar process.
Active
Active listing means the seller and their agent have met to sign paper work and the home is officially for sale. I like to think of this as the home is on the supermarket shelf and awaiting a buyer to place it in a shopping cart.
Under Contract
When a buyer likes the home, they instruct their agent to “write a contract” to purchase the home. When that contract is submitted to the seller and the terms of the deal are accepted we can say the home is “under contract” and we have entered into the Due Diligence period. This is the period that a buyer will do their own due diligence and complete inspections and important parts of the buying process. We are actually going to talk more in detail next week on this term.
Pending
When the due diligence period has ended we move into the next stage. This is often referred to as “pending”. I like to think of this as we have moved the home to the register, placed it on the conveyor built and its moving towards the cashier (attorney) who will finalize the deal.
Closed
Once the attorney has had all parties sign their paperwork and taken the deed to the courthouse to be recorded at the register of deeds, the property is officially “closed” and the new owners have taken the property as their own. We are going to unpack this one in a few weeks as well.
It’s important to realize that things can happen at each stage of the process that make the entire journey a roller coaster ride. It can be stressful and one of the many reasons you need to have a great agent on your side to make sure we make it to the end of the deal with as little heartache and stress as possible.
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Chris Whitehurst
Rose & Womble
252 312 2263