The RMLS just announced they are creating a new listing category to deal with short sales. As home prices declined, the number of short sales (a sale where the seller owes more than the current value of their home) increased. Once a seller accepts an offer to sell their home on a short sale, the offer goes to their lender for approval. The approval process can take several months. The transaction is not actually pending, as it requires the 3rd party approval. But, since most sellers only submit one offer at a time, the listing is not really active either. This has created confusion, as many listings that show active might have on offer submitted to the bank already.
To fix the problem, the RMLS is creating a new category called "Short Sale Pending." This listings will show up with other active listings on any RMLS search, but it's status as a short sale with an offer will be much more clear. This new category will go into effect in early March, and likely will take a few weeks for listings to be updated and for other websites to program in the necessary changes into their own property search.
Once the change is complete, it will make it much easier for buyers to distinguish which properties they could actually right an offer on and not be in "back-up" position.
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