What is the Difference Between Active and Active-Contingent?

One of the most common questions we get about listings is “What is the difference between active and active-contingent?” Although the 2 names are similar they are very different listings. An Active listing is one that is for sale and has not accepted an offer yet. Active- Contingent is a listing that is for sale, but the sellers have already accepted an offer and is considered under contract.

What does it mean?

On an active-contingent home, the accepted offer included some contingencies that have not been removed yet. Some examples of these contingencies could include inspections, attorney approval, and financing. If the offer were contingent on the buyers selling their home first, the property would be listed as Active-LTC. LTC stands for limited time clause because there is typically a deadline that the buyers need to sell their house by before the property falls out of contract. Active-LTC listings are more likely to fall out of contract than Active-Contingent listings.

What does it mean to you as a buyer?

If the sellers are accepting backup offers while Active-Contingent, you can submit an offer, but it will only be considered if the first contract falls through. Some reasons that a property may fall out of contract include an inspection issue, a financing issue, or the buyers backed out for another reason. These things don’t happen often, especially in this market, but they do happen.  Just know that it is a long shot.

If the sellers are not accepting backup offers, then don’t even bother saving it in your profile. You can’t see it and you can’t write an offer.

What is the difference between Active-Contingent and Pending?

While sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. A property that is pending has accepted an offer, but there are no contingencies in the offer. This can happen in 2 ways. The first way is with a cash offer that is waiving inspections. The second and most common way is that all of the contingencies have been met and removed on an Active-Contingent listing.

I hope this helped shine some light on the different listing categories. If you still have questions though, please reach out to us and we would be delighted to help answer your questions! Be sure to check out some of our other blogs including How to Buy a House and How Much Does it Costs to Buy a House in Ann Arbor. Thanks for reading!

Chrissy Myers

MI Home Team