There are several different statuses that your house will go through while it is listed on the market.

The main status a house for sale will have is “active.” From the time you list your home up until the day you find a buyer, your home will be listed as active.

Once you have a buyer who is under contract and in their inspection phase, the next status your home will have is “Pending Inspection,” meaning the home is sold unless the inspection goes poorly. Once the buyer has satisfied their inspection contingency, the home homes to a “Pending” status.

The last status is “Sold,” which happens once the loan has come thru and the house is officially closed.

One status that is not talked about and not often used is “Temporarily Off Market.”

Temporarily off market is a status of a real estate listing that indicates that the home is temporarily unavailable for showings and offers.

Why would a seller temporarily take their house off the market on the MLS?

This status is used by agents when they have an active listing but something has popped up. In this situation, they would still like some market exposure, but they do not want to completely pull it off the market. Temporarily off market is identifying to the market that “we do want to sell, we just have a situation we have to work through for a short period of time.”

The alternative—canceling the listing—signifies to the market that the listing is not selling right now.

When a house’s status is changed to temporarily off market, it is usually only for a couple of weeks. This can be for a variety of reasons, from remodeling to re-painting or landscaping.

The Bottom Line

Temporarily off market is a status that is not often used but is one that can be helpful in scenarios when you have to deal with something quickly in order to get back on the market and get the property sold!