Problems with re-listing process
Letters to the Editor
By Inman News, Friday, November 14, 2008.Bookmarking Sites
Re: 'Re-listing likely to draw ire of consumers' (Nov. 13)
Dear Editor:
Re-listing is NOT intended to be misleading. If you have an aged listing and want to get it some attention, re-listing the property can be a very good way to catch people's eye again.
The problem with re-listing is that the only status in the MLS that can be given to a property is "active." There should be another category, such as "active (re-listed)" or something to that effect that will highlight to the world that the home is not new to the MLS but has been listed under a new listing number.
In order to be upfront and ethical, the information released to the public on Web sites like Realtor.com, Yahoo, etc., should show the original listing date and the date re-listed as well as the days on market for both listings
If a home has been listed for awhile and the seller chooses a new Realtor to market the property, why saddle the new agent with the mistakes of the old agent? Create some new categories for listings to avoid the problem.
Pete Contostavlos
Realtor
Dallas, Texas
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Submitted by Bill Fooks on November 14, 2008 - 3:59am.
Bill Fooks
TFT realty Marketing Service
Warwick, RI
Fooksteam.com
"re-listing" I found that 80% of all listings were at one time listed before they were sold. Now if they sell again in the next 6 months with another broker, is this a re-list.
Or who do we represent?. The seller may want to reposition the property, price, or improvements. Is this a relist?, with the same broker.
From a "buuyer broker" point of view I can see the complaints. But they should do there homework for their client. Their value then increases, with the homework they do.
Submitted by Susan Krancer on November 14, 2008 - 4:51am.
Our MLS systems need a mechanism to show TOTAL days on market including past listing days... whether a new broker was involved or not. The buyers want to know how long the property has been on the market in total, not how long it's been on the market this time.
We are seeing a significant number of relistings (not 80% like Bill, but likely 50%), and the DOM data shown in the MLS is misleading for the buyers.
I guess the problem is how to count the previous days on market. If a listing is on for a year and then off for a a couple of months, would the previous days be included? Certainly, that is info a buyer would want to know about before making an offer. I typically search the MLS and pull out previous days on market for all of the the options that might be of interest to my buyers, but the process is more tedious than it should be.
Susan
Susan Krancer
REALTOR®
Liz Moore & Associates
Williamsburg, VA 23188
www.WilliamsburgGolfProperties.com
Submitted by Anne Hensel on November 14, 2008 - 5:32am.
I really do not see the big issue with days on the market.
As a buyers agent you do you homework and look at the history of the home.
Days on the market really does not tell you anything. The home might initially have been totally overpriced or the first and second Realtor just didn’t do a good job with marketing and advertising, there might have been a huge construction project in the neighborhood that is finished now. So, again days on the market in my mind are not so important but I do believe in Disclosure. Disclosure disclosure. Instead of adding days on the market to the MLS system, may don’t we (buyer’s agents) just ask the listing agent or ask for it in writing. This way we not only get the days on the market but maybe also an explanation WHY it was on the market for so long.
Anne Hensel
Broker, ABR, E-PRO, C-CREC, ASR, AHS, TRC, RECS
South Beaches Real Estate Professionals
727 409 8706 www.Southbeaches.info
Submitted by Denise Canell on November 14, 2008 - 6:48am.
Relisting isn't aimed at deceiving the public. Relisting is aimed at catching the other real estate agents' attention. When properties are on the market for a long period of time, some agents tend to "skip" over them, thinking there must be something wrong with them. The last property I "relisted" hadn't had a showing in two months. I relisted it on a Friday and had 5 showings over that weekend.
Submitted by Marta Davies on November 14, 2008 - 6:59am.
Our MLS gives us total DOM and a tab to pull up property history. For buyers who use an agent this information is easily available. A good agent knows the inventory and history anyway and this feature just helps to substantiate activity on a property. I have seen though properties get re-listed at a higher price and sold to buyers who have no representation. These buyers ended up paying more than the lowest price listed on MLS like $70,000 more.
Marta Davies
Keller Williams Realty
Andover, MA
www.invest2create
Submitted by Michael Espiritu on November 14, 2008 - 12:12pm.
Our MLS has DOM (Days on Market) and CDOM (Cumulative Days on Market). We also have listing history and property history. All are important and all have relevance.
A "new" listing is one that has been off the market for 60 days. It is soon changing to 90 days off market as a requirement.
If a listing has been off the market 60 or 90 days and is relisted with that same agent or another agent I think it definitely "qualifies" as a new listing and DOM and CDOM goes to 0.
Any good agent will research the property so their clients know exactly how many times it has been for sale and any modifications to the listing, when and what those modifications were.
Disclosure and transparency are key!
I would much rather my client was told by me, the person they are trusting in to have their best interests at heart, than to find out some other way that I did not disclose ALL facts that I know about the property.
Conduct your business ethically,honor your fiduciary duty to your client and your business will thrive! Its not that difficult to do the correct and right thing.
Michael Espiritu
Director Region 3-East Valley Association of Realtors
Director -East Valley Assoc. of Realtors MLS Operations Committee
Broker
Copeland Wealth Management/CWM Real Estate
SoCal
Submitted by Ralph M on November 24, 2008 - 7:33am.
Here is that DOM problem again...Would we have this conversation if the DOM was gone?
Realtors with ethics would NEVER re-list a property just to change the DOM.
www.aarsteam.com