Sold conditional
The BrokerFold Team — Product + Engineering
Last reviewed
Sold conditional is the listing status for a home whose seller has accepted an offer that still depends on unmet conditions — most commonly financing approval, a satisfactory home inspection, condo document review, or the sale of the buyer’s current home. The deal is agreed but not firm: if a condition fails by its deadline, the agreement dies and the home returns to market.
How the status works
Conditions live inside the agreement of purchase and sale, each with a deadline. The buyer either fulfills or waives them in writing, and the moment the last one clears, the status moves to sold firm. Until then the sale is genuinely uncertain — which is exactly what the status is telling other buyers and their agents. Financing and inspection conditions resolve quickly; a sale-of-buyer’s-property condition can hold a listing in conditional limbo for weeks, which is why sellers often pair it with an escape clause that lets them keep marketing the home and force the buyer’s hand if a better offer lands.
What it means for buyers and sellers
For a buyer who missed out, sold conditional is not the end — deals do collapse, and a well-positioned backup offer inherits the sale without a bidding war. For the seller, the status is a holding pattern: committed to one buyer, but not paid yet, and advised to let showings continue in many cases. For the buyer holding the conditions, the deadlines are the whole game; a missed waiver date can end an agreement that both sides wanted.
What it means on your website
Status handling is where listings websites quietly differ. Boards represent conditional sales in their feeds, and a good site carries the status through honestly — a buyer browsing at 9pm should see that a home is under conditional contract, not a stale “for sale.” How the interval is counted also varies by board convention, which is one more reason days on market numbers deserve careful reading. On BrokerFold sites, statuses update on the board feed’s cycle, so the conditional-to-firm transition shows up as it happens rather than whenever someone remembers to edit a page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still make an offer on a sold conditional home?
Often, yes — as a backup. The seller can't walk away from the accepted deal, but many will take a backup offer that activates if the first one collapses. Where an escape clause is in play, a strong second offer can even force the first buyer's decision early.
How long does a home stay sold conditional?
As long as its conditions run — typically days to a couple of weeks for financing and inspection, much longer when the sale of the buyer's own home is the condition. Each condition carries its own deadline written into the agreement.
Keep reading
- Escape clause An escape clause lets a seller keep marketing after accepting a conditional offer — and force the buyer to waive or walk when a better offer arrives.
- Agreement of purchase and sale The APS is the contract at the centre of every Ontario home sale — offer, acceptance, deposit, conditions and closing terms in one document.
- Irrevocable period The irrevocable period is how long an offer stays open for acceptance and cannot be withdrawn — the clock every Ontario negotiation runs on.
- Days on market Days on market counts how long a listing has been for sale. What resets it, how Canadian boards track it, and how buyers actually read it.