Transaction Coordination

Contingent vs Pending: What Each Listing Status Means

What contingent, active under contract and pending mean on a listing, why the names differ from one MLS to the next, whether you can still make an offer, and how long each stage lasts.

Ijharul Islam October 30, 2026 10 min read

Contingent means the seller has accepted an offer, but the sale still depends on conditions such as an inspection, appraisal, loan approval or the sale of the buyer's home. Pending usually means those conditions are cleared, or the seller has stopped showings, and the deal is heading to closing. Each local MLS sets the exact names and rules.

More on this topic: Contract to close: process and checklists, every guide in one place.

That last sentence matters more than most explainers admit. One MLS separates the two statuses by contingencies, another by whether showings continue, and a third uses different names altogether. Below we explain what each status means for buyers, sellers and backup offers, quote three MLSs' own definitions, and show where the contract, not the status, decides what happens. For the conditions themselves, see the types of real estate contingencies.

Key takeaways

Both statuses mean there's an accepted contract; neither means the house has sold. A sale is final only at closing.
Contingent (or active under contract) usually means conditions are still open and the seller may take backup offers.
Pending usually means the conditions are met or the seller has stopped marketing; definitions vary by MLS.
You can usually still make an offer on a contingent or pending home, but only as a backup unless the first deal ends.
The status is a label in the MLS. The purchase contract's dates and clauses decide whether either side can still walk away.

What does contingent mean in real estate?

A contingent listing has an accepted offer that is conditional. The buyer and seller have signed a contract, but one or more contingencies still give a party, usually the buyer, a way out if something specific goes wrong: the inspection turns up problems, the appraisal comes in low, the loan isn't approved, the title isn't clear, or the buyer's own home doesn't sell.

While those conditions are open, the seller is under contract and can't accept a second primary offer. What the seller can often do is keep showing the home and accept a backup offer, which moves up only if the first contract ends. The Chicago-area MLS, MRED, puts it plainly: contingent listings are active properties in which backup offers can be presented.

Each contingency has its own deadline. When the buyer removes it, or the deadline passes and the contract treats silence as approval, the contingency is gone. When all of them are gone, MLSs that define pending by contingencies, such as MRED, expect the listing to move to pending.

What does pending mean on a house?

Pending means the sale is under contract and moving toward closing, usually with the major conditions met or the marketing stopped. MRED defines a pending listing as one with a fully executed purchase contract with no contingencies other than closing. Bright MLS, which covers the Mid-Atlantic, defines it by marketing instead: according to the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS, a Bright listing in pending is no longer accepting showings or being actively marketed, and its days on market stop counting.

Pending isn't sold. The lender still has to fund, the title company still has to clear its requirements, and the buyer still has to sign and pay. A pending deal can fail, but by then there are usually fewer exits left in the contract.

Contingent vs pending: what's the difference?

In most markets the difference comes down to two questions: are any contingencies still open, and is the seller still showing the home? How the common statuses usually line up:

Status	What it usually means	Showings	Backup offers
Active	On the market, no accepted offer	Yes	Not needed: any offer can be accepted
Contingent / active under contract	Accepted offer, conditions or marketing still open	Often yes	Usually accepted
Pending, taking backups	Under contract, seller still wants backups	Sometimes	Yes
Pending	Under contract, conditions met or marketing stopped	Usually no	Sometimes, if the seller agrees
Closed / sold	The deed has transferred	No	No

Treat the table as a pattern, not a rule. The next section shows how three MLSs draw the lines differently.

Why do listing status names vary by MLS?

There's no single national definition. Each MLS writes its own status rules, deadlines for updating them, and what each status allows. Three examples, from the MLSs' own pages or their associations:

MLS	Contingent-type status	Pending	Update deadline
MARIS (St. Louis)	Active Under Contract: accepted contract, seller wants marketing and showings to continue	Accepted contract, seller has stopped marketing and showings while contract conditions are met	Within 3 business days
MRED (Chicago area)	Contingent (CTG): active properties where backup offers can be presented; a Continue to Show field is required	Fully executed contract with no contingencies other than closing	Within 48 hours after execution
Bright MLS (Mid-Atlantic)	Active Under Contract: under contract, still shown and marketed; a Kick Out Clause yes/no field	No longer shown or marketed; days on market paused	Not checked; see Bright's rules

Notice what changes. In MARIS the split is the seller's choice about marketing; in MRED it's whether contingencies remain; in Bright it's showings and marketing, with a separate flag for a kick-out clause. Bright's predecessor MLS used “Contingent with kick-out” and “Contingent with no kick-out”, the association notes, before those listings were mapped to Bright's statuses. So when a buyer asks what “pending” means, the honest answer starts with “in our MLS…”.

What does active under contract mean, and is it the same as under contract?

Active under contract (AUC) is the status many MLSs use for an accepted offer where the seller keeps the home on the market, usually to collect backup offers. MARIS lets public marketing, showings and open houses continue in AUC; pending stops them.

“Under contract” is the plain-English phrase for any accepted, signed purchase agreement, so it covers contingent, active under contract and pending alike. Under contract vs pending, then, isn't really a contrast: a pending home is under contract too. The useful distinction is whether contingencies are open and whether the seller will still take offers.

What does pending, taking backups mean?

It means the home is under contract, the contingencies may well be cleared, but the seller still welcomes backup offers in case the deal fails late, for example if the buyer's loan falls through near closing. A backup offer is a full, signed contract that waits in second position; it becomes primary only when the first contract terminates and the seller gives notice. We explain the mechanics, including earnest money on a backup, in how backup offers work.

Can you make an offer on a contingent or pending house?

Yes, but the seller can't sell the same house twice. Your offer will usually be accepted, if at all, as a backup. Before writing one, a buyer's agent should ask the listing agent which contingencies are still open and when they expire, whether the seller will accept backups, and whether the first contract has a kick-out clause.

A kick-out clause matters because it gives your offer more weight. If the first buyer's purchase depends on selling their own home, a seller with a kick-out clause can accept your offer and give the first buyer a short window to drop that contingency or step aside. Wisconsin's state form, for example, gives the first buyer 72 hours if the blank is left empty. See the home sale contingency and kick-out clauses.

How long does a house stay contingent or pending?

As long as the contract's dates say. The contingent stage ends when the last contingency is removed or expires, and the forms set very different periods:

California: C.A.R.'s guides put the RPA's loan, appraisal and investigation contingencies at 17 days after Acceptance by default, removed in writing. See California contingency removal deadlines.
Texas: the option period is the number of days written into TREC contract 20-19, ending at 5:00 p.m. local time. See the Texas option period.
Ohio: the statewide contract defaults to a 10-day inspection period and a 45-day loan commitment if the blanks are empty. See Ohio purchase agreement deadlines.

Pending usually lasts until closing, which follows the contract's closing date. For the work that happens in between, see the contract-to-closing timeline, week by week.

Can a pending sale fall through?

Yes. Even after contingencies are removed, a deal can fail because the buyer's financing changes, title problems surface, a party defaults, or the parties agree to cancel. What happens to the earnest money then depends on the contract: if the buyer cancelled within a contingency, it's usually refunded; if the buyer simply didn't close after removing contingencies, the seller may have a claim to it. See the earnest money deadline and earnest money disputes.

When a contract terminates, the listing goes back on the market or a backup moves up. That's when a well-documented backup offer pays off.

What should agents and TCs do when the status changes?

Update the MLS within your MLS's deadline (MARIS: 3 business days; MRED: 48 hours), and pick the status that matches your MLS's definition, not the habit of the office.
Record which contingencies are open and when each expires; that, not the status, tells you whether the buyer can still cancel.
If the seller takes backups, log each backup's position and its earnest money arrangements.
When the last contingency is removed, file the signed removal or the proof the period passed, then change the status.

Closingbird keeps every contingency date on the file, reads them from the executed contract for you to check, and reminds each owner before the date, so the status change is a formality rather than a guess. See deadline tracking.

Frequently asked questions

Is contingent better than pending for a buyer looking at the home?

It gives a backup buyer a slightly better chance, because contingencies are still open and the first deal is more likely to fail. But in both cases you can only offer as a backup until the first contract ends.

Does pending mean sold?

No. Pending means under contract and heading to closing. The home is sold only when the deal closes and the deed transfers.

What does CTG mean in the MLS?

In MRED, the Chicago-area MLS, CTG is the code for Contingent: an active listing with an accepted offer where backup offers can still be presented.

What does contingent with kick-out mean?

The buyer's purchase depends on selling their own home, and the seller kept the right to accept another offer and make that buyer remove the contingency within a short window or lose the deal.

Can a seller back out of a pending sale?

Only if the contract gives the seller a right to cancel, such as the buyer missing a deadline or a seller-side contingency. Otherwise a seller who refuses to close is in default.

Do contingent and pending listings still show on the MLS?

Yes, as non-active statuses. Whether they can be shown to buyers or advertised depends on the status and your MLS's rules.

Run it in Closingbird

Closingbird tracks every contingency date on the file and reminds the owner before each one, so you always know whether a deal is still contingent. Start a free trial (14-day free trial, no credit card required) or see pricing.

Sources

Checked in October 2026. Rules and prices change, and many vary by state, so confirm with the source, your state's real estate commission or your broker before you rely on them.

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