You notice that a home is for sale on your favorite street in your favorite neighborhood in San Diego. However, there is a sign on it that says “In Escrow.” A little further down, another home for sale has a sign on it that says “Sale Pending.” What does Escrow or Sale Pending actually mean?
In San Diego, once we receive an accepted offer, the buyer will have a certain amount of days to do their home inspections. This will typically be 10-17 days. It all depends on how competitive the market is. Right now, at this current time, it is very competitive. We then negotiate repairs, and while this is going on, we are all waiting on the buyers’ loan approval. This typically takes place within the first 17-21 days. At this point, the buyers must remove all contingencies. That is when the listing agent will put the “In Escrow” or “Sale Pending” sign up. Now the buyers’ are committed and moving forward with the purchase of this home. The chances of them canceling are extremely slim. Although things do happen in life, at this point, if the buyer cancels, their deposit would be at risk.
A Home In Escrow May Still Be Available for Sale
As a buyer in San Diego’s Hot Sellers Market, thinking out of the box will help you find a home you would normally not know about. You can still put an offer on one of these homes. This is especially the case if the home just went pending or in escrow. If you really love that house, have your Realtor contact the listing agent to find out the details and see if they will accept backup offers. If so, be the first one in. There may be times when the current buyer gets cold feet or may have a hard time getting a loan. If you have a backup offer in place and the current buyer cancels, you will be able to go under contract without competing with other buyers.
With this being said, you want your agent to determine why the current buyer canceled. It may have been because of something on the inspection. The listing agent is required to provide you with the current inspection, and you will be able to see for yourself. Often, a first-time homebuyer may be scared by what they see on an inspection when it is not scary at all. There may be lots of little things that may seem to be too much for them to handle. In reality, a handyman would be able to go through the punch list and repair all of these small items in no time at all.
Search For Your Home
Even though you put in a backup offer, don’t stop searching for a home in San Diego. The chances of the current buyer backing out of the transaction in this current market are very slim. However, it can happen, and we have had it happen with our listings. However, the buyer knows there is a shortage of homes coming on the market in many cases. If they are working with an experienced Realtor in the area, that Realtor will be able to walk them through the process and get a handyman/contractor to give them a quote and an idea of what it would take to fix the necessary items. At this point, the buyer will usually be at ease and follow through with the sale. If they don’t, you will be in the right place at the right time.
For help finding a home in the San Diego area, contact the McT Real Estate Group at 619-736-7003. We would be honored to help you through the process of buying a home and negotiating on your behalf. Please check our client references. You will be able to read up on the experience.