Should You Buy a House That Was a Pending Sale Then Got Back Into the Market?

When looking for a house, it's normal to focus on a few houses that you really want to buy and see how they move through the market. Let's say for example that you're looking at Seattle homes for sale and your eyes were caught by this Seattle real estate but it's on Pending status on the listings. Since the sale has not yet been completed, you figured it wouldn't hurt if you watched the property for a bit and see if it will go back to the market.

After a few months it goes back to the list of Seattle homes for sale and naturally, it arouses your suspicions because if you were the buyer, you certainly wouldn't let go of the property. Why did it go back on the market after being on pending? That's a good question, and it's smart to be a bit suspicious. There may be good reasons why the house went back on sale, and there may also be bad reasons which could really change your mind about the house.

Here are a few different scenarios to ponder:

1. The seller experienced seller's remorse - The seller may have changed his mind about selling to the person who made an offer. Perhaps he thought the offer he was accepting was too low and decided to back out on it. Perhaps he really had a moment of doubt and took the house off the market for a bit, only to put it back in. This rarely happens, but it does happen.

2. The buyer's loan was rejected - The buyer may have filed for a loan and got rejected and looking for a different lender was taking a long time so the seller issued a notice of action and no action was made. In such cases, it would be impractical for a seller to wait around for a sale that may never happen.

3. Some contingencies of the buyer's contract were not met - Sometimes, buyers may put a contingency that their house still needs to be sold before they push through with the sale, or other contingencies that determine whether they will buy the house or not. Maybe some contingencies were not met so the deal fell through.

4. The buyer changed his mind about the house - Sometimes a buyer may encounter a better deal with another seller. Usually to prevent this, earnest money is deposited into the escrow account. The amount may be enough to deter the buyer from considering other options while negotiating the sale of the house. But it's not something unheard of.

5. Some issues on the house were unearthed after the home inspection - Now this, you have to be careful with. It's entirely possible that the buyer got the house inspected and discovered that there are deal breakers in the house. Things like the house isn't insurable anymore because of toxic chemical content, or that it will cost too much to have the house insured because of several underlying conditions.

Jack Forsythe is a writer specializing in real estate properties and other related topics. Visit our website for more information about Seattle homes for sale and to look at Seattle real estate listings.