Listing

A house for sale that is ‘listed’ on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).

Accepted Offer

An Accepted Offer means that both Buyer and Seller have agreed to a Purchase Price, Closing Date, Inclusions/Exclusions, and Conditions. If there are no conditions and both parties agree on Price, Closing Date and Inclusions, you have a ‘Firm Deal’. If the Seller agrees to the Buyer’s conditions, the Buyer has until said business days to fulfill their conditions (ie, get a satisfactory home inspection or obtain financing)

Conditional Period

Should you receive an offer, the Buyer may want to complete further due diligence, so they will make the offer ‘conditional’ upon something, for a certain amount of time. Depending on the market, and personal convenience, the average time to allow the Buyer to confirm their financing is 5 business days, and inspection could be only one day, but often also 5.

Fulfilling Conditions

In order to have a ‘firm deal’, both parties must agree that the conditions have been met (or not), and confirm on paper that they are moving forward with the offer. A Notice of Fulfillment of Condition is prepared and signed by the Buyer and Seller, and accepted by the Listing Brokerage, stating that the Buyers have done their proper due diligence, and feel comfortable moving forward and moving in!

A Firm Deal

This is when an offer is accepted, and the conditions have been fulfilled. After this, you wait until closing day!

Mutual Release

A Mutual Release is signed when an offer doesn’t work out. For example, the Buyer could have been unhappy with the home inspection, there fore decided not to move forward with the home, and get their deposit back. The Buyer gets their deposit back and continues looking for a home, and the Seller can keep it on the market, and may accept other offers.