In the past this pending with release status has been used almost exclusively for transactions where the buyer's offer was contingent on the sale of their property. However, in today's market it is often used during a short sale when the sale is contingent on the approval of the price and terms by the lender or lenders who hold the mortgages.
Marcy

In addition to the below answers, I'm now starting to see short sales listed as Pending Release because they are subject to the banks approval.

Hi AnimalFarm,
Pending with release means that there's a contingency of some sort that is yet to be removed, so there is an possibility that either party may be released from the contract.
Pending without release means that the contingencies are removed, and the property is just waiting to close.
When a property is Pending/Release, the listing agent will foten accept back-up offers in case something goes wrong.

Hi Animalfarm,

A fellow member of my Real Estate team wrote a great article on ALL the real estate statuses, you can read it here: http://teamtapper.com/2009/09/04/what-do-the-different-real-…

Brendan Aiello – Cashin Company Realtors
DRE # 01860602
AielloB@gmail.com
(650) 403-6262
Twitter: @BrendanAiello
http://www.BrendanAiello.com
http://www.TeamTapper.com

Generally speaking "pending with release" means that the seller has accepted an offer that is contingent upon the sale of the buyer's property. There is a 72-hour "kick-out" clause in most cases where if the seller gets another offer he can give notice to the first buyer to either remove the contingency or terminate the first contract. Hope that helps!

Billy McNair
Broker Associate | Attorney | MBA