if you are looking in SF its not too hard to keep current b/c there is so little inventory. buyers are frustrated by the prices and will whine about every sort of issue but that will not bring the prices down. that’s the job of the market.

If the Buyer has just come on the market and wants to make an offer on that property, they usually want to know how long it has been on the market? This will affect the offering price to the Seller. If the Buyer has just come on the seen and thinks the property has just come on the market, in my experience they will be willing to make a higher and faster offer than a property that the Buyer thinks has sat on the market for a long time.

In my board in Palos Verdes, Calif. I am able to search the history of a property on the MLS. That way I can see how long the property has really been on the market. At least for Palos Verdes California, You can not hide the days on the market even if it says new. So just have your agent do their homework and New on the Market is no longer an issue in the Los Angeles Area.

DOM manipulation gets rolled up in the local and national housing statistics so who knows what the real market status is?!?!

If its taken off the market for 6 months to a year or more, and something REAL done to change the property, that’s one thing. But a month or two? No way.

I agree with most of what has been written. However, buyers and sellers both place too much emphasis on the DOM or CDOM. As mentioned above, DOM or CDOM is probably the least informative of the MLS data points. The data tells everyone how long a listing has been on the MLS. Nothin’ more and nothin’ less. It doesn’t tell how long it has been a pocket listing etc. (ie. on Craigs list, sing on front law indicating future listing “coming soon” etc.) It doesn’t tell whether there has been a price adjustment and it certainly doesn’t determine the value of the home. Its a data point that some (data geeks) use in an effort to have a measure of control over the purchase decision. Ie. if the home has been on the market for 90 days, it must be due a 5% drop. If it has been on the market for 120 days, an 8% drop and so on.

Locally (and I imagine throughout the greater planet know as Earth), unscrupulous, unethical or poorly trained (ignorant?) agents use these tactics to create what the agent perceives as “new interest” in a property. In a warped sense they are acting as a fiduciary for their client by trying to keep the house in front of buyers in hope of getting the home sold. The reality is that any buyer who has been following the market (and if your buying a home and not following the market, shame on you) to any degree (either with or without an agent) would know that the home in question is being “gamed” by the listing agent. For the casual observer, the DOM or CDOM might confuse. It is unfortunate that some MLS’s don’t publish the CDOM data to the public. But even if they did, the value of DOM or CDOM is minor.

One issue not mentioned is the seller has ultimate authority for the list price. Seller’s may want to “test the market” with a higher price. The listing agent needs to fully explain the pros and cons of such a strategy. Unfortunately, some agents may take an overpriced listing just to get the listing and then try to “assist the seller” in pricing the home correctly while the home sits and gets “stale.” New agents and agents of dubious ethics use this tactic to get listings. Any seasoned agent knows that this is a bad idea and against a Realtors code of ethics (yes we have a code of ethics). Note: not all licensed real estate agents belong to the California Association of Realtors, so those who aren’t CAR members are difficult to discipline for ethics violations.

Most people need buyers agents. Some are equipped to handle it by themselves. But the sheer amount of things they need to do, let alone the data they need to review, is going to be prohibitive for most people. Now, if you have your mind made up you want to live in a certain building come hell or high water? Hey, maybe you should go for it solo.

There’s also this, what if the market changes back to a completely balanced or even a buyer’s market? All this bluster about DOM is going to fall by the wayside. If that should happens damn near every property is going to take a few months to sell. DOM won’t be relevant at all. They’ll all be at 60+.

If you change brokerages – the new brokerage should have a new days on market – in my opinion that’s the only time it should reset.

If you want to pocket list a property, advertise for months on your own website, spam the hell out of Craigslist with advertisements about the property — have at it. But when you decide to put the unit in the MLS – be honest and ethical and enter it with the appropriate days on market.

What if I was to put a list of 10 properties on this site which have been pocket listed for 60+ days and ACTIVELY advertised on Craigslist as available – but are currently being marketed as “new on the market” in the MLS – What do you think the agents representing these properties would say, “It’s not illegal – what am I doing wrong”

Who knows – perhaps our Association will take action and even the playing field – force all of us to play by the rules and not manipulate them.

To those who suggest that the status quo is just fine : just contract a knowledgeable realtor and they will release the “real” DOM figure : how does this benefit anyone in the market ? We’re just talking about a number. A number that the sfarmls.com database could easily produce without the need to insert a realtor in the loop. Certainly good realtors have better use of their time than maintaining their own personal record of subjective DOM.

I’ve met enough realtors to know that there is plenty of value that they can provide to their clients. Knowledge of neighborhoods, trends, contract terms, etc. are valuable professional assets. These areas are where the finesse of a skilled realtor really add value.

But being a gatekeeper for a simple DOM number ? No thanks.