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I wonder if marketing it in the interim period among agents outside of MLS will hurt as well. It certainly won't make it seem like a new listing to the agents that it has been marketed to, and will mute the impact of the January reemergence.
I'm not an agent, but if it were me, I'd consider what normal DOM is for your area, and if you're way short of it, consider keeping it on market for a few more weeks. If you normally have an active market but are slumping now... actually take it off the market, consider what changes you should be making and make them.
Whether it be decluttering, repairing, staging, repricing whatever.
Well, hopefully she can re-set her expectations as well as the DOM because it sounds like a month isn't long to be listed in your area, and if she's already antsy about it, that doesn't bode well for what could be a longer term slog, even during the hopefully more upbeat Spring selling season. Because of course no one can predict what will happen with the economy as a whole and while I'm certainly not rooting for a recession next year, that doesn't mean one can't happen.
Personally, if I were trying to sell a house, I'd be trying to sell it, not playing games about it and pretending I was capable of predicting the future.
This is how I think about it too. I don't get all of the "strategy" that people seem to engage in when buying or selling a house. We'll be doing both in the next few months. To me, the bottom line is what is the correct price for the house based on the current market.
As a buyer, I don't care about the DOM at all. I just look at the price/SF and how it relates to the market as a whole. If it seems to be priced right and it's not selling, it makes me wonder if there's something seriously wrong with it. If it's overpriced for the market, I put it on my favorites list to see what happens over time. When we make out actual house-hunting trip I might be tempted to make an market-based offer on an overpriced house, but then again I might not because I don't want to engage in lengthy negotiations.
As a seller, I'm busy getting my house in its best possible shape and then will list it at a price supported by the market.
Maybe I'm missing out on something, but I don't see it.
Had an interesting conversation with my neighbor, who has had a house for sale for more than a month with no offers. She has an unusual solution that I thought might make an interesting topic. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen this approach brought up here. Has anyone tried this, and if so, how well did it work out for you?
She wants to take her home off the mls for 90 days. Apparently after 90 days you can relist and the clock for "days listed" resets to 0. 90 days would have her relisting in late January, which is the start of the spring selling season in this area. She thinks the selling season is dead now and will remain so through the holidays, and this way she won't have to disrupt her holiday plans for buyers who make appointments but don't bother to show up.
She thinks buyers are spooked by what is happening on wall street and by interest rates going up, but that by January these fears will have settled down. She also thinks the economy will continue to be strong for the next few months, and the area may get a boost if Amazon decides to choose Virginia for it's HQ2 (a reasonable guess, but not a done deal by any means).
...
What do you guys think?
I'm in northern VA. I don't think Amazon's decision will affect her, because Williamsburg is much too far from northern VA to commute, and I don't think Tidewater is among the finalist metro areas. So how could it influence housing prices (in the short run) there? And there are 20 cities still left in the finalist pool (including NoVA and DC), so I would not bet on Amazon's coming here either, though people are speculating about it.
This is how I think about it too. I don't get all of the "strategy" that people seem to engage in when buying or selling a house. We'll be doing both in the next few months. To me, the bottom line is what is the correct price for the house based on the current market.
As a buyer, I don't care about the DOM at all. I just look at the price/SF and how it relates to the market as a whole. If it seems to be priced right and it's not selling, it makes me wonder if there's something seriously wrong with it. If it's overpriced for the market, I put it on my favorites list to see what happens over time. When we make out actual house-hunting trip I might be tempted to make an market-based offer on an overpriced house, but then again I might not because I don't want to engage in lengthy negotiations.
As a seller, I'm busy getting my house in its best possible shape and then will list it at a price supported by the market.
Maybe I'm missing out on something, but I don't see it.
I agree with you about the importance of pricing right for the condition of the house and the market. One thing that is challenging in pricing is living in an area where each house is unique (e.g., older houses in varying conditions, with varying styles, some with additions) vs. more "cookie cutter." But what we learned (through hard experience--and contrary to what multiple Realtors had told us) was that price really is the most important thing. It offsets many taste differences--at least one buyer who doesn't particularly like the style of your house is happy to buy it if the price is low enough relative to the size and condition, etc.
I'm in northern VA. I don't think Amazon's decision will affect her, because Williamsburg is much too far from northern VA to commute, and I don't think Tidewater is among the finalist metro areas. So how could it influence housing prices (in the short run) there? And there are 20 cities still left in the finalist pool (including NoVA and DC), so I would not bet on Amazon's coming here either, though people are speculating about it.
She doesn't live in WBurg, she lives in Sterling, about 4-5 miles from the CIT campus that is on of the contenders. And not a bad drive from the Crystal City spot. I have homes in both Nova and WBurg, which may be what caused the confusion.
I never look at the MLS DOM number, I just use any of the free website's price/listing history feature to get an idea of what the seller is up to. If I saw a listing disappear for the Winter and come back on in the Spring, I would expect the price to be no more, and actually less, than what it originally listed for before it was removed.
As others have said, the price is either right or it isn't. I can certainly understand the desire not to list during the slower period (Fall/Winter), but if that's the way the timing works out, it doesn't really do you any good to pull it off the market and wait. You'd be better off dropping the price the few thousand you'd ultimately be spending on carrying costs and keeping it listed. You never know; the perfect buyer could come along during that period.
I wonder if marketing it in the interim period among agents outside of MLS will hurt as well. It certainly won't make it seem like a new listing to the agents that it has been marketed to, and will mute the impact of the January reemergence.
Interesting question. IDK the answer, but it's possible that a muted impact on agents isn't that big of a concern anymore. The role of the agent has become more about properly preparing paerwork and getting access to the house, rather than being about suggesting places to see.
These days buyers seem to search on computers, and then tell the agents which homes they'd like to see. At least that's how it seems to work for the people I know. DOM comes more into play because newer listings are pushed to the top of the various lists, and buyers are more likely to see them when they scroll through.
I think your neighbor is gonna lose 90 days of exposure to buyers. It’s not hard to pull up the listing history. Hell I can do it I’m sure a agent can too. My rentals show the time line when it was listed and when it was rented. And it goes back a few years. I’m pretty sure it’s the same with sales.
I don’t get why people get all freaky over time on market. All it takes is one person to say I want to buy. They could be there the first week or 50th week. I would worry about making the house presentable and getting it sold. Hell i would go as far as offering to pay closing costs if I needed to in order to sell.
but although you're correct, many people consider the DOM as a primary factor.
In a market where houses take 120 days to sell, and the price is to market ... why would it matter if the house has been on the market for 110 days without a price reduction? It shouldn't. But unless the consumer knows - or leans into an agent who DOES know - they might be concerned.
average days on market for similar homes - not on Zillow.
average price for similar condition/size homes - not on Zillow with any veracity*
*I looked at a house I had that just closed, and their methodology/comps. First, the Zestimate (as oft discussed elsewhere) magically went up 10% to our list price shortly after listing. Secondly - and more importantly - more than half the "comps" they used wouldn't be used by an agent or appraiser. One was even 8 years old, and nothing but a deed transfer @ 5% of the price of the home in question. Perhaps they toss that outlier in their algorithm...but it appeared on their website for some odd reason. There were at least 5 more comparable sales within 1 block and even just 4 years.
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