When you are searching online for a home for sale in Wilderness Shores, Orange, Lake Anna or elsewhere you may come across a home that is marked as active under contract. As a buyer looking for a home, this is a little confusing. Is the home for sale? Can you tour the home for sale? Can you write an offer if you like it? What exactly does active under contract mean?
The term active under contract means that the sellers of the home have accepted an offer from buyers. The home is currently going through the contingency clearing stage of the home buying process. This means that contingencies such as the home inspection or appraisal are being conducted. During this stage both buyers and sellers have opportunities to exit the contract if a contingency is not cleared. For example, the buyers and sellers can’t agree on the fixes needed after a home inspection.
Since the home has not technically sold yet, it will still be listed on many home search websites.
Sometimes, the sellers are willing to accept backup offers. These offers would only come into play if the first falls through. My suggestion: if you see a home you really like that is active under contract, tell your Realtor®. Your Realtor® can keep an eye on it to see if it happens to come back onto the market. If not, you have given your agent an example of what you really like in a home, and your agent can help find similar homes for you to consider.
