From time to time one of my For-Sale-By-Owner customers tells me “I’ve got my house sold- when do I quit showing it?”  They want to do the legal thing, sometimes also the courteous thing, but mostly it seems as though they want to quit the letting prospective buyers in to see their home a bit prematurely.
As I began to write this article, it quickly got out of hand, and became too deep and legal for the scope of this venue.  If you have more interest in the nuts and bolts of the process, I will be glad to talk to you where there is no worry about word-count.
(This article first appeared here in Jan of 2014.)

So, item one- is your house “sold?”  Most people use the word “sold” and the word “pending” interchangeably, but they do not mean the same thing…  they are both industry lingo, but let’s look at the timeline of the subject house being sold.

First, when the house goes on the market, it is “For Sale” and in Multiple Listing Service lingo to agents it is “active.”  You, as seller, want to show that house to every prospective buyer you can find.

Then, suppose a buyer comes along, and tells the seller that he will, indeed, give the price and buy that house, but he’s got to sell his house first (or get get an inspection, or get a spouse approval, etc.) but it’s still not “sold.”  Of course the offer is worthless until it is in writing, but when it is, and you sign it, too, you have accepted a contingency offer, but you knew enough to have added a “kick-out clause” for your protection,  where we state that the sellers will continue to show the house, and in the event that another acceptable offer comes along, the first prospective buyer understands they will have to find a way to purchase that house WITHOUT whatever the contingency was, or the second buyer prospect will get to buy it.
Your house at this point, is still “active” but with a “contingency.”  Now you, the buyer, will still show any prospects the house, but you will tell them there is a contingency contract on it.  Tell them they can still make an offer, and possibly buy it under the kick-out concept.  This may cut down on the number of showings, but the best surprise is no surprise, and these people should know before they look, but don’t withhold information, but surely don’t refuse to let them look.

Now if and when the contingency gets removed- and this all should be done in writing- then your house is classified as “pending” in the MLS.  At this point usually what could go wrong with the sale is an inability to get a mortgage for one reason or another.  While the house is “pending,” it is still OK to let prospects look at it as long as they know that if they make an offer, it would be a back-up offer in case something goes wrong with the first one.
They may not be inclined to, since after contingency removal and loan approval, usually few things go wrong at this point, and it is just a matter of letting the lender finish up their work and the closing company do its title work.

When the buyer and seller finish up at the closing attorney’s office and the money has changes hands, then, and only then is the house called “closed” and therefore “sold.”  At that time, you as the seller, can feel more secure about not working with every prospect you can find!
I have probably over simplified some of these concepts due to our space limitations, but in the future we will be looking at them individually and in much more detail.  The trick is, this is not intuitive, but it’s not that complicated, either.  There is no reason to fear this process of buying and selling houses, or to think you need to spend a fortune on having someone do everything for you.  DON’T BUY SERVICES YOU DON’T NEED!

Good luck for now! Get to work if you want it to happen. Call me if you want to talk. Yes, I am the Reasonable Realtor. Don Martin, MARTIN PROPERTIES (615) 973-8970

Just make your comments here, or you can reach the Dean of Graduated Realtors at www.FSBO-GUY.com or “like” him at http://www.facebook.com/MartinProps

And please don’t forget our book will be out in a few days.  You need to have it on YOUR bookshelf!  NEW LIST
Don Martin

Martin Properties (Flat Fee MLS to Full or Graduated Services in Nashville, TN)