Your Maryland Home Is Listed and Has Not Sold Yet
Program and regulatory figures verified September 25, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
No offer yet is the harder version of this problem. In Maryland it is also the version where the cheapest structures happen to be the ones the state does not tax.
What this situation is
A listing with no contract gives underwriting nothing to remove. There is no closing disclosure coming and no funding date. So the file has to stand while both payments count, and every lever is about lowering a payment or proving reserves.
Two routes the state does not tax
Maryland charges recordation tax on the increase in unpaid outstanding principal debt when a supplemental instrument is recorded (Md. Tax-Property 12-108(e)). Two of the three structures never record one against the departing home:
Carry both payments and recast after the sale. No new lien. When the sale eventually happens, the proceeds pay down the new loan's principal and the servicer re-amortizes.
Convert the departing home to a rental. No new lien, and it removes the dependency on a sale date entirely, which is the point when there is no offer in hand. Under Fannie Mae B3-3.8-05 the rent offsets that property's own payment: gross rent times 75% less its PITIA, positive offsets that payment only, negative goes into your ratio.
The third route, borrowing against the departing home's equity, works and is taxed on the new money. In a situation where the sale date is unknown, paying that tax to bridge an open-ended gap deserves a hard look. See the recordation tax page.
What renting costs you
The Homestead Tax Credit on that property. Md. Tax-Property 9-105(a)(5)(i)(1) requires the dwelling to be the homeowner's principal residence and actually occupied, or expected to be, by the homeowner for more than 6 months of the relevant 12-month period. A tenanted home does not meet that.
Note that you are losing the credit on the new house anyway, since 9-105 withholds it after a transfer for consideration to new ownership. So the incremental cost is the cap on the departing property only. See the homestead reset page and the rental conversion page.
The documentation catch
B3-3.8-05 states that lease agreements are not permitted for any departing residence. Market rent is documented by a complete appraisal that includes market rents, a Form 1007 rent schedule for the occupied unit, or market analysis tools with at least three comparable rental properties from the same market area where possible. The lender must also document a current housing payment first.
Reserves, in a flat market
Reserves carry these files, and Maryland's backdrop in August 2026 was mixed: Baltimore up 0.6%, the Washington metro up 0.2%, Salisbury up 0.1% and Easton down 0.1%, against Cumberland at 3.1% and Hagerstown at 2.6%. Flat pricing lengthens expected marketing time and tends to raise the reserve tier. See the move-up market page, the structures page, and if you get an offer mid-process, under contract but not closed.
Frequently asked questions
My Maryland home is listed with no offers. Can I still buy the next one?
Yes, but nothing removes the departing payment without a contract, so the file has to qualify carrying both. The levers are converting the home to a rental so it offsets its own payment, reducing the new payment, or proving reserves.
Which Maryland structures avoid recordation tax when my home has not sold?
Carrying both payments with a later recast, and converting the departing home to a rental. Neither records a new instrument against the departing property, so neither increases its unpaid outstanding principal debt under Md. Tax-Property 12-108(e).
Will my tenant's lease satisfy the lender?
No. Fannie Mae B3-3.8-05, dated 09/02/2026, states that lease agreements are not permitted for any departing residence. Use a complete appraisal including market rents, a Form 1007 rent schedule, or market analysis tools with at least three comparable rentals.
Does a flat Maryland market affect my financing?
It tends to raise the reserve tier, because bridge structures set reserve requirements against expected marketing time and flat pricing lengthens it. Baltimore rose 0.6% and the Washington metro 0.2% year over year as of August 2026.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or real estate advice. Maryland recordation tax rates are set by each county and Baltimore City, and the Homestead Tax Credit is administered by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation; your county finance office, your CPA or a Maryland attorney, and your real estate agent each handle their own part. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.