Days on Market

Do each of you know what the average Days on Market is for listing in your area?  I honestly believe that it is one of the most important facts to know about your given area.  Like a lot of realtors, we chase expired listings as a way to make up for a smaller sphere of influence.  Right now, our Days on Market in our two primary areas is 157 days.  Why is knowing this important to us? 

Simple, I don't know how many expired listings that I have contacted that have had a 90 Day listing agreement.  Why on earth would you limit your opportunities to sell your sellers listings by believing that you are 67 days better than every other agent in your area.  (In our case, and our area.) 

One thing to keep in mind as you are taking a listing of say 180 days, is that the seasons change.  How does this affect us?  I am sure of a couple of ways. Do you think that as a buyer that you would want to look at a home in June or July when it is nearly 100 degrees outside that the photographs of it show it covered in snow?  The opposite is also true, why look at a house in the winter when the lawn is green?  (Although to me it is much better than the snow covered house in the summer.)  The key is that you want the buyer to believe that the listing is fresh and current.

The other thing that the time of the year is important to your marketing.  In the winter we might gear our marketing towards those that ski and ride snow mobiles while in the summer, we extol the virtues of our outdoor recreational opportunities, as well as our great summer festivals like the Utah Shakespearean Festival or the Utah Summer Games. 

Another key statistic to keep in mind is your personal Days on Market, if you are beating the average of your local Board of Realtors, why not beat your own drum and tell the seller that you are good enough to get his house sold more quickly than the average realtor in the area.  I doubt that most realtors will beat the average by the 67 days that I mentioned above, but if you're able to cut their time by say 20 days, that is a valuable service to offer your client. 

I have gone on and on again this morning, but another key statistic to know is how you compare against other realtors in the sold price vs. listing price area.  Are you able to price a home correctly from the outset, you are if you are consistently getting a sold price in the high 90% range of your listing price of the home.  This ability will greatly affect your personal Days on Market statistic.  Anyway just a couple of things to think about when trying to get a listing or if you're the seller and trying to select an agent.

If you're looking to sell or buy in Cedar City, Utah, please give us a chance to earn your business!