What Does AWC Mean on a Scottsdale Arizona MLS Listing?

**UPDATE – November 18, 2011**: The AWC field in the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) has been replaced with a new field, UCB. UCB signifies that the home is under contract, but that the sellers are still actively seeking backup offers. Please see here for additional information.

_________________________________________________________

Many people searching for homes in Scottsdale Arizona go directly to the local multiple listing system (ARMLS) to see all of the homes currently on the market.

While searching for homes, they will come across many homes with a listing status of AWC and wonder what that stands for.

What does AWC stand for? AWC stands for “Active With Contingencies.” This home listing status is used in lieu of placing the home in the “Pending Sale” status as there are hurdles that need to be cleared before the sale can move forward.

What it means to a potential Scottsdale home buyer is that the home is on the market and it being marketed to the public as a home for sale, but that there is a contingency in place that needs to be cleared before another buyer can move forward with the purchase.

When you see an AWC status, the person or entity selling the home is looking for other backup offers in case the existing offer/contract with the contingency falls through.

There are three different categories of AWC with one of them AWC-I or AWC- Seller Written Instructions being a very common one in today’s market. I will explain what each of them mean below:

• AWC-C or AWC -Contingent Offers: This AWC status indicates that there are is another offer or contract on the home, but there are “contingencies” involved. The contingency on the contract or offer would need to be cleared before the sale can be completed.  An example would be if the seller had accepted an offer where the buyer has another home to sell prior to being able to close on the new home purchase.
• AWC-I or AWC – Seller Written Instructions: This status has exploded in popularity in the last few years due to the large number of short sales in the Scottsdale and Phoenix real estate markets. The “I” stands for written “instructions” to keep the listing in an active, although with contingency, status. It can be used in different scenarios, but I would say the majority of the time when you see an AWC status on a  Scottsdale home listing, it is referring to a short sale. So, when you see this in the case of a short sale, it means an offer has been accepted by the seller, but now the seller’s lienholder(s) have to approve the offer. Once lienholder(s) has/have given their approval and the deal can move forward, these listings can then move into Pending status.
• AWC-O or AWC – Existing Option to Purchase: This one is pretty rare to see. The “O” means that there is an existing “option” to purchase the home. Basically, the seller and option holder agreed to sell the home to the option holder at some point in the future. However, the option holder is not obligated to buy the home, so if they walk away from the purchase, a new buyer can step in.

If you have any further questions on the AWC status field or any other field in an MLS listing in the Scottsdale area, please feel free to contact us.

NOTE: Per the November 2011 change, the AWC status field has now been simplified. Now, the field will only be designated AWC and the three categories described above will fall under this single field.