Active, Bumpable & Pending… Oh My! What do these statuses mean?

It has been such a crazy year, and I think everyone is waiting to see what is coming this fall with possible rate drops. Typically, we get a bump in the market as kids go back to school and then the market slows down for my favorite time of year… I like to call this time “Happy HallowThanksMas” time!

Why is this my favorite time of year? It is the ‘Ber months, and those are the best months of the year. I also love that this is usually the best time of the year to be a buyer. If the Fed does cut the rates, it will be a good time for sellers as well!

This is a good time to review what the Active, Bumpable and Pending statuses mean.

Let’s start with where you look for homes. Trulia? Redfin? Zillow? Craigslist? If you do, then you should know that these are marketing sites. They all pull their information from one site, and sometimes the information may not be accurate. They are excellent resources for maps and other information. Just be sure to follow up with your buyer’s Realtor for the ‘real’ scoop, as we can get more information on homes for sale than what the public sees on all these sites.

For example, not too long ago, I listed a cute home up in the Heights area close to SW Hospital. We put their home on the market and within 24 hours I was getting phone calls asking if it was for rent. Unfortunately, within 24 hours of me listing the home, someone had ‘stolen’ the pictures and put them on one of those sites as a rental. I flagged the post and tried to contact the site. I updated the flyers to state the home was for sale, and not for rent. The updated flyers were too late for another call I received. A couple had contacted the person posing as the “landlord”. He had asked to meet somewhere to have them sign some paperwork and put down a deposit for the home. They drove by the home, saw the For Sale sign, and called me about it. They were nice enough to forward me emails from this scam artist, so I was able to email him a ‘cease and desist’ letter. Not surprisingly, it was shortly removed from the marketing site. You can never be too careful.

These sites pull their information from the actual site agents use. Skip the middle-man and go to the site the agents use – RMLS.COM. RMLS stands for ‘Regional Multiple Listing Service’. RMLS.com is owned by agents. When an agent writes up a listing agreement with a seller, that agent has a limited amount of time to put that home on the site. If the agent receives an offer that is accepted and signed around, that Realtor has a limited time to change the status of the listing. So, if you go to RMLS.com, what do the statuses mean?

Active (ACT) This home is active and available on the market. The home is available to be shown by your buyer’s agent. Active means that the home doesn’t have any accepted / signed-around offers on it. There may have been an offer, or maybe an offer that is in counteroffer status, but not accepted yet.

Bumpable (BMP) This home is in a bit of a grey area. The sellers currently have an accepted offer, but the current buyers are contingent on something happening first. The most common contingency for a Bumpable home is that the current buyer has their own, currently occupied home up for sale. The current buyer can’t purchase the home unless they sell their current home first. The home will go Pending once the buyer gets an offer accepted on their home. They have a contracted time to get an offer on their home. They need to be aware of the deadline. The current buyer also needs to be aware that the Bumpable home can still be shown. A Bumpable home is NOT Pending. Buyers can still make an appointment to see this home, and if they like it, a buyer can make an offer on a Bumpable home.

Pending (PEN) This means the home you are looking at has a fully signed around and accepted offer on the home. Legally, per MLS rules and regulations, we are not supposed to show Pending homes to a client without approval. Even though the home is Pending sale, there will still be a sign in the yard because the ‘for sale’ sign is marketing. That sign won’t be taken down until after the deal is closed and the new owners get their keys.

As your agent, I will do everything possible to make the process as smooth as possible. There are a lot of other folks involved and your team will do everything they can to help you achieve your goal of either getting keys, or giving those keys to the next homeowner to enjoy your home as much as you did. Hire the team that works best for you. Ask those questions. Not sure what questions to ask? We had a blog on that!