There’s a ship-load of acronyms in property and STC is one you’ll see a lot on property portals like Rightmove or Zoopla.
What Does STC Mean?
In property, STC means subject to contract.
This basically means that an offer has been made and accepted, but it’s not legally binding yet as contracts haven’t been exchanged.
So the deal can still fall through.
This can apply to both buying properties as well as renting properties out, but in this post, we’ll just look at STC in the context of houses being bought and sold.
When talking about rental properties you’re more likely to see the term ‘Let STC‘ or ‘Let agreed‘.
What Does Sold STC Mean in Property?
The term Sold STC (or SSTC) stands for Sold Subject to Contract and it applies when people are buying and selling properties.
Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) means that a buyer has made an offer that has been accepted by the seller, but it’s not all legally binding yet.
A property would move from Sold Subject to Contract to Sold when contracts have been signed and exchanged as this is the point it becomes legally binding.
Remember that since it’s not legally binding the sale of the property can still fall through at this stage.
Can You Offer On A Property That Is Sold STC?
You can offer on and view a property that is Sold STC as long as the seller agrees to it.
Some people don’t like this as it feels bad to let the initial buyers down, but there’s no legal reason stopping the seller from entertaining new offers.
If a seller did let you view and offer on a house that is STC, they could also end up accepting your offer and you could end up buying it.
So you can actually end up buying a house that was already Sold STC.
Sold STC vs Under Offer
You might also see properties that are marked as ‘Under Offer’ instead of ‘Sold Subject to Contract’.
The difference here is that ‘Under Offer’ only means that an offer has been made, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the offer has been accepted.
If a property is marked as STC it means an offer has been accepted by the seller and they’re currently going through the process of making everything legally binding.
Further Reading
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