In real estate, “under contract, show” means the seller has accepted an offer on the home but is still allowing showings and accepting backup offers. A signed purchase agreement is in place, yet enough contingencies remain unresolved that the seller wants to keep other buyers interested in case the first deal falls through. If you spot this status on a listing you like, the home is not sold, and you can still tour it and make an offer.
How It Differs From No-Show and Pending
Once a seller accepts an offer, the listing moves out of active status into one of a few labels. The differences tell you how much room you have.
- Under contract, show: A purchase agreement is signed, but major contingencies are still open. The seller keeps the home available for tours and will consider backup offers.
- Under contract, no show: A purchase agreement is signed and the seller has closed the door to tours. Some sellers still accept backup offers in writing, but you cannot walk through the property.
- Pending: The primary contract has cleared its major contingencies and is heading to closing. Showings are generally off, and most sellers stop entertaining new offers.
The word “show” is doing the real work in the label. It is the seller’s signal that they want continued interest and are hedging against the first deal collapsing. Pending is the opposite signal: the window has effectively closed.
Why Sellers Keep the Door Open
Deals fall apart. A buyer’s financing can be denied, an appraisal can come in low, an inspection can turn up something the buyer will not accept, or a buyer who needs to sell their current home first may fail to do so. Any of these can terminate a contract weeks after it was signed.
Keeping the listing in “show” status is a safety net. If the primary contract collapses, a seller with a backup offer already signed can transition to a new buyer without relisting, reshooting photos, or losing weeks on the market. From the seller’s perspective, extra foot traffic now is cheap insurance.
What Contingencies Are Usually Still Open
A listing typically stays in show status while one or more of these remain unresolved in the primary buyer’s contract:
- Inspection: The buyer has the right to hire a professional inspector and to negotiate repairs, request a price reduction, or walk away based on what the inspection finds. Inspection periods commonly fall between seven and fifteen days.
- Financing: The lender has not yet issued a final loan commitment. If the loan is denied, the buyer can exit and recover their earnest money.
- Appraisal: The lender’s appraiser must confirm the home’s value supports the loan amount. A low appraisal gives the buyer room to renegotiate or cancel.
- Home sale: The buyer’s offer depends on selling their current home first. This is the riskiest contingency for a seller because it hinges on an entirely separate transaction.
- Title: A title search must confirm clear ownership and the absence of liens, encumbrances, or boundary disputes.
Once these are satisfied or waived, the listing usually flips from “show” to “pending” and the seller stops accepting new showings.
Can You Still Tour the Home?
Yes. That is the whole point of the “show” designation. Your agent can schedule a walkthrough through the same channels used for any active listing, typically an electronic lockbox or an appointment coordinated with the listing agent. Sellers in this status are actively inviting buyer interest, so there is nothing awkward about booking a tour. It is exactly what they are hoping for.
How to Submit a Backup Offer
If you want the home, you submit a backup offer. It is a complete, fully prepared purchase offer that sits behind the primary contract and only activates if the first deal is terminated. The package your agent sends to the listing agent should include:
- A full purchase offer with your price, earnest money amount, contingencies, and proposed closing timeline. Make it as strong and detailed as any primary offer.
- Earnest money, typically one to five percent of the purchase price depending on local custom. Whether the deposit is delivered on signing or only when your offer becomes primary depends on the terms of your agreement.
- Proof you can pay, meaning a lender’s pre-approval letter or, for a cash purchase, a proof of funds statement showing sufficient liquid assets.
- A backup addendum, often titled “Back-Up Offer Addendum” or “Addendum for Back-Up Contract.” Attached to your purchase agreement, it acknowledges your offer is secondary and becomes primary only if the first contract is formally terminated.
If the seller finds your terms acceptable, they sign the addendum and return it, confirming your position in line. You now have a binding agreement that activates automatically if the first contract falls through.
What You’re Committing To as a Backup Buyer
Backup position is not an indefinite trap. Under most contracts, you can withdraw your offer in writing at any time before the primary contract is terminated and your offer moves to primary status. If you withdraw during that window, you are generally entitled to a full refund of any earnest money you deposited.
While you are in backup position, you have no active performance obligations. You do not need to schedule inspections, apply for a mortgage, or hit any deadlines. Your contingency clocks do not start running yet.
The seller, however, is bound by the signed addendum. If the first deal is terminated, the seller has to honor your backup offer and transition to your contract. They cannot relist at a higher price or renegotiate your terms. Your agreement steps into the primary position automatically.
What Happens When Your Offer Becomes Primary
If the first buyer’s contract is terminated, the seller sends you written notice that your offer is now the primary contract. The date you receive that notice typically becomes the new effective date of your agreement, and your contingency periods start running from there.
So if your contract includes a ten-day inspection period, that clock starts on the notice date, not on the day you originally signed the backup addendum. The same applies to financing deadlines and any option periods. You are, in practical terms, beginning a fresh transaction timeline on paperwork you already signed.
Because the switch can happen with little warning, stay ready. Keep your lender in the loop about the backup, and have an inspector you can call. Sellers who have already watched one deal collapse tend to be especially motivated to close, and a backup buyer who can move quickly has real leverage.
When the Status Turns Pending
The listing moves from “under contract, show” to “pending” once the primary buyer has cleared the major contingencies in their contract. The inspection period has passed, the lender has issued a loan commitment, and the appraisal has come in at or above the purchase price. The odds of the deal falling apart drop sharply at that point.
Once pending, the seller typically stops allowing showings and stops accepting new backup offers. If you were still deciding whether to pursue the home, pending is the signal that the opportunity has effectively closed. Until then, “show” means you are still in the running.