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New Massachusetts MLS Features Help FSBOs

The state of Massachusetts is served by a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) called MLS Property Information Network, or MLS PIN. MLS PIN is the largest Multiple Listing Service in New England and one of the largest in the nation, offering a database of more than 38,000 properties for sale and rent and more than one million off-market listings, as well as full public records for all of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and other areas of New England. MLS PIN has recently announced three (3) system updates that help for sale by owners (FSBO) or those selling their home without a Realtor.

New Contingent (CTG) Status Available

The new CTG status has officially been released. It is the hope of MLS PIN that with the launch of this new status type, it meets the needs of those listings that have accepted offers but are continuing to show for additional offers, while eliminating some of the issues associated with the abuse of a deprecated status type called Active with a Flag that was banned from use earlier this year.

Contingent (CTG) Status: A property for which an offer has been accepted, but which the Owner has requested it still be listed in the Pinergy system for backup offers, has a status of “CTG.” A Contingent property must meet one of the following conditions: Inspection, Attorney Review, Appraisal, Financing, Third-Party Approval, Pending P&S.

There are currently seven (7) different on-market status types for properties in the MLS PIN system.

Longer MLS Property Descriptions

MLS PIN customers will now have twice the space to market their properties with the doubling in size of the “Public Remarks” allotment to 1,000 characters. This change will allow FSBOs in Massachusetts to provide long, feature rich descriptions that buyers love to read. That’s more space to describe the waterfront amenities, or the butcher block counters, or simply to spell out those tricky abbreviations.

New “Date Available” for Rental Searches

Finding the right rental property is about to get easier–at the Cape, downtown Boston and elsewhere! The Date Available field is currently available for all Rental listings, but soon it will be required to select that the rental is available now, or a date of availability. Starting in mid-July Massachusetts real estate brokers and agents will also be able to search MLS PIN by Date Available to hone in on pertinent properties.

When Does an Offer to Purchase Terminate?

Homeowners who decide to sell their home without the help of a professional real estate broker or agent, a For Sale by Owner (FSBO), are naturally not as well versed in real estate transaction fundamentals, including the topic of contracts. When listing and selling a home without a broker, a FSBO needs to know what constitutes the termination of an offer to purchase.

Can I Cancel My Offer to Purchase?

The first thing to keep in mind as a FSBO is that an offer to purchase is continuous, meaning that when a buyer makes an offer to buy, the offer to purchase is good until one of the following occurs:

  • Rejection – an offer to purchase is good until the seller (or offeree) rejects the buyer’s (or offeror’s) offer.
  • Making a Counteroffer – an offer to purchase is good until the seller rejects the buyer’s offer by making a counteroffer (for instance, the seller counters at a higher price point).
  • Revocation – an offer to purchase is good until the buyer revokes their offer, so long as it is prior to the seller accepting the offer to purchase.
  • Time Expires – an offer to purchase is good until the seller fails to accept the offer within a stated time period of time (for instance, offers to purchase are often on the table until a certain day and time, after which, the offer expires).
  • Incompetence or Death – an offer to purchase is good until the death or insanity of either the seller or the buyer prior to acceptance of the offer to purchase by the seller. What constitutes incompetence?
    • Minors (those under 18)
    • Persons declared legally insane
    • those convicted of treason (they can’t own real property)
    • Possibly someone who is under the influence of drugs and/or intoxicants at the time of signing a contract
  • Illegality – an offer to purchase is good until there is a subsequent illegality by either party at any time.

A real estate contract that is legal in the eye of the courts needs a valid offer and an acceptance of said offer, a legal object (versus one that is illegal), competent parties to the agreement, and consideration (value) exchanged between both parties.

Because of the Statute of Frauds that governs real estate transactions, real estate contracts must be in writing, except for leases that are less than 12 months.

Real estate transactions often come together quite quickly, and there may even be multiple offers on the table, a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) seller must understand and follow governing law, especially the ins and outs of what constitutes termination of an offer to purchase.