[quote=Escoguy]BG
Thanks for your comments, if you look at the contingent as a portion of active back in early 2013, almost all active were contingent. I’m guessing that the brokers aren’t updating the contingent like they used to. Would be useful to know what portion of “active” really is active, but while one data point isn’t the full story, I’m guessing it could be as much as 50% today which would align more with the spring 2013 data.[/quote]The word “contingent” in the upper LH corner of an online listing from a major MLS aggregator (i.e. “realtor.com” or “Redfin”) also means that the seller’s lender(s) must approve any offers because the seller’s listed price is lower than what they owe on the property. It could also mean that there has been a current offer under consideration by seller’s lender(s) for many weeks/months and the listing agent is accepting backup offers in the likely event that seller’s lender(s) will not accept the current offer they have been considering. Again, the buyer’s agent should always find out from the listing agent if sellers are still accepting offers (or backup offers) on the property before attempting to submit any offers on it. It is also helpful to find out what the offers were that seller and/or their lender(s) have already turned down so their client(s) can decide if they want to place an offer … or not.
In other words, today “contingent” usually means the listing is a (wishful) “short sale.” In some SS listings (very few), the listing broker/agent has already received in writing from seller’s lender(s) payoff amounts they will settle for upon sale (based upon a consummated deal within a particular time frame) and the listing is priced accordingly. This situation is rare.
In 2013, there were far more SS listings than there are today … where they now seem to be concentrated in just a handful of zip codes.
Yesterday, I complained here vociferously on why lender(s) aren’t cracking down on their CA deadbeat-homedebtor trustors of non-performing loans and foreclosing on them at this late date.
These lagging “wishful SS listings” and the many residential properties hiding in plain sight with low or non-performing mods on them which are mostly in no condition to sell anywhere near market price need to be foreclosed upon, IMO. I believe this phenomenon is contributing to poor inventory in many CA urban and suburban zip codes as well as running down property values in these areas.
