Ask Andrew: Days On The Market
By: Andrew Goodman
Q: How does the number of days a home is on the market affect the sale of a home?
A: There are many different strategies when listing a home. Obviously, every seller wants to get top dollar for his or her home. The strategy you choose to obtain the results you want should be discussed between you and your Realtor.
The longer your home stays on the market, the less likely it is that you’ll get an offer for or above asking price.
When looking at home listings, there are two ways to decipher how many days the home has been on the market:
DOM-MLS represents the number of days the exact MLS listing has been on the market, not the home. Typically, this reflects how long the property has been on the market with its current listing agent. If the property is relisted with another agent, then the DOM-MLS will reset back to zero, but the DOM-Prop will continue to increase.
DOM-Prop represents the total number of days the home has been on the market, no matter how many different Realtors have relisted the property. This number will reset back to zero when a property has been off of the market for at least 90 days, not every time it has been relisted with the same or new agent.
As a buyer, you should really look at the DOM-Prop number to see the true amount of time the seller has been trying to sell the home. The DOM-Prop, along with the property’s listing history (which your Realtor can provide), will give you a good idea of the seller’s position.
The first two weeks a home is on the market will tell you if the property is priced accurately and if there’s any demand for the property.
If you get a lot of traffic in the first two weeks, the theory would be that the home is priced right and the demand is high for your type of property. If your home doesn’t get a lot of traffic in the first two weeks, I would certainly reconsider your strategy, especially in today’s market.
In today’s market, properties are moving rather quickly due to the pent-up demand and low inventory.
If you see a home that has been on the market for seven days or fewer, you should check to see if there are any current offers on the property. If there are offers, be ready for a bidding war. But, if the home has been on the market for a month or so, you should be able to negotiate and hopefully not deal with a bidding war.
The longer your home sits on the market, the more likely a buyer is going to submit a lowball offer. I always advise sellers not to list their home too high. Some sellers want to list their home higher than the price they are willing to accept because they believe every buyer will try to negotiate with them, so they would like a cushion. However, if a seller prices it too high, it could end up hurting them in the long run.
Please be realistic when listing your home. Sellers sometimes have an unrealistic idea of what their home is worth. With all of the websites and information out there, it is very hard to “trick” a buyer into overpaying, which will most likely end up hurting your return on invest.
Please consult with a Realtor to determine the best listing price and listing strategy for your home.