Backup Sale 

For a particular reason, the seller is concerned that his accepted offer may not close. Examples of why listings are set to backup status include:

Buyer financial concerns

Market concerns

Sense of security

When a listing is flagged as Backup, the seller is soliciting additional offers for negotiation and acceptance. In the event that the first position offer fails, the next accepted offer immediately kicks into action.

Hold sale

I don’t know of any hard and fast rules regarding the Hold Status. In broad terms, the hold status is used for many reasons including:

Seller is doing work on his property and wants to temporarily stop showings

Seller wants his home off the market for a particular reason

Withdrawn sale

The listing agent has withdrawn a listing from the MLS, the property is no longer listed for sale and the terms of the listing on the MLS are no longer are in effect. However, a withdrawn listing is still an active listing as far as the MLS is concerned and you may still be bound by the terms of your signed listing agreement.

Canceled sale

The seller has opted to remove his home from the market. The property is no longer listed for sale and the listing agent stops all marketing efforts.

Pending sale

For all parties, the accepted offer seems to be solid enough to cease the solicitation of additional offers. 

I’ve heard that somewhere between 10% and 25% of all escrows fall apart, and this includes deals that looked great on paper, but couldn’t close. The only 100% transaction is a closed transaction.

Last updated on January 24, 2012 by Blake Roberts