Knowing the true status of the foreclosed homes in our Houston Association of Realtors MLS system has been a mystery. Often times a foreclosed home that was really in contract was still being represented in our MLS system as Active. But if it is sold why is it still showing as active?
Great question. It boils down to a technicality. Here’s how it works … the potential buyer and the asset manager for the lender / bank owned home have agreed to terms of sale and have what is considered a verbally accepted contract. After the bank and the buyers have agreed to terms, the bank will send additional addendums they require the buyer to sign before the bank will execute the contract. After the buyers have signed and sent the additional addendums back to the bank, the asset manager for the bank will review the real estate contract and its addendums and then execute the contract.
The time frame from a verbally accepted contract to a fully executed contract on a foreclosure can be as quick as 3 days to as long as 20 business days. In the meantime, since the contract is not fully executed the foreclosed home is still showing to be active when in reality it is in contract and should be in a pending status.
I have shown numerous Spring Texas foreclosed homes that were supposedly active to only find out later they were in contract. Showing homes that are in contract is a waste of time but what’s worse is having to tell your buyers the home you just showed them and the one they fell in love with is not available because the bank has a verbally accepted contract.
Good News!!! The Houston Association of Realtors MLS Advisory Group has finally recognized the problem caused by the time delay between verbally accepted contracts and executed contracts on bank owned properties and have made a MLS rule change. Now, listings that are bank owned are required to be reported as pending within five (5) days of acceptance of a verbal offer if the bank is no longer accepting additional offers. With the new MLS rule change, you can now search homes for sale in Spring Texas and know if a foreclosed home shows an active status that there is a much great probabitlity of it actually being available.
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One of the Very Best in the Business.My wife and I met Jill as we prepared to place our first... read moreOne of the Very Best in the Business.My wife and I met Jill as we prepared to place our first house on the market and began to look for a new home in the Spring area. I've worked with agents in the past with whom I've been less than impressed, but Jill is top-notch. She is punctual, thorough, and patient. She has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the market, the builders, the school districts, the MUDs, and the neighborhoods. For the sale of our home, Jill took us step by step through the preparations necessary to get our house ready to show: everything from rearrangement of furnishings to referrals for handymen. When we started viewing potential houses to buy, I was amazed that Jill not only knew everything about the house she was showing me, but seemed to know details regarding all the neighboring houses as well. For the closings, Jill was an extra set of eyes, ensuring that the paperwork was in order. She also made sure that the the closing was at a convenient location and took as little time as possible (less than an hour in both instances). All throughout the process, Jill remained a driving force, constantly ensuring that inspection reports were being rendered promptly or that the mortgage provider was keenly aware of the closing date; and I received a steady stream of email updates from her. I couldn't be more pleased with her, and in the event we're once again in the market for another home, she would be my first call. read less