If a home has a status that is an active contingent, that means the buyer has placed an offer to the seller with problems or Contingencies that should be solved before the owner finalize the sale of the property. Some of the common reasons a home is labelled as contingent are- when the home is on inspection, the moment the buyer gets an approval for a mortgage, and the time the buyer can sell his old home. Once the contingency gets resolved, whether the buyers are selling their property, or they are getting approval for the mortgage, or the seller home passing inspection, that time the real estate sale does move forward. That time, the status of the reak estate will be called pending instead of the contingent.
As you know, contingency is the condition that must be fulfilled. And once they are fulfilled, the sales move forward as the contingency is cleared. In active contingency, the seller accepts the offer, which includes one or more contingencies, and the buyer now gets time to remove the contingencies. And when they are cleared, the home will switch to pending status.
Contingencies are of four types- sales contingencies, financing Contingencies, appraisal contingency, and inspection contingency.
Contingencies generally provide a safety net for the buyer, although sellers will be wanting to avoid having to wait for the contingency. A contingency prevents the seller from having certainty that their home sale will close. That is why the sellers are not usually waiting for the contingent offers.
What does active contingent mean? That is the one question consumers ask of the real estate agent. This means that the property or home seller has an offer from the potential buyer. Although, there are different types of contingency that must be met before the sale is finalized. There is another type of common contingency that the buyer needs to be approved for the mortgage loan within a certain amount of time after the contract is signed. If any of the contingencies are not fulfilled, the contract will be void and null, so there may not be any penalties assessed. So, if you are a buyer interested in the active contingent, continue to check if the status has changed or not. But if you see the status of active contingent falls off, and the home is not pending sale, this will open the new doors of offers for you.
