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"Days on the Market" should be removed from all listing displays

By David Elya

Real Estate Broker/Owner with BROOKVIEW REALTY

March 06, 2007 10:58 PM

Can any MLS exist without Listing Brokers?

Refresher: What does the acronym MLS stand for? Multiple Listing Service.

Is your MLS working for the best interest of the seller by posting the number of days the sellers property has been on the market?

Chicken or egg Question: What came first? The chicken or the egg? I say the chicken. The chicken I speak about is the Listing Broker. The egg is what the Buyer Broker gets when they sell a listing posted on the MLS.

Would any MLS exist without Listing Brokers? I say NO!

What would happen to your MLS if there were no listings entered by a listing broker?

First of all, there would be no reason for a buyer broker to use the MLS. There would be no data to search.

Does your MLS assist the listing broker? The MLS should. The MLS should promote the best interest of the seller first. Without the seller, there would be no commission paid to any broker. No offer to compensate the buyer broker or sub agent. Without the seller negotiating compensation with the listing broker, the MLS as we know it would not exist.

Is your MLS working for the best interest of the seller by posting their number of days on market? As a listing broker looking to promote the best interest of the seller, can you really explain this logic? How does posting it, let alone collecting it help the seller? Is it a tool we use to bust the seller down on their price? Is it a way that the buyer uses to offer a lower price? I say yes!

As a buyer broker, when was the last time a buyer asked for pricing and how many days on the market and you told them a price and DOM they thought was perfect? I bet it has never happened. What really happens is that the buyer asks, we explain what comparable homes have sold for in the past and at what price. Buyers in my market know that it takes a while for a property to sell. It's no secret. The DOM doesn't matter if the price is right.

My local Broker owned MLS, MiRealsource, has decided without asking its shareholders, to post the cumulative Days on Market on all listings dating back 5 years. The cumulative DOM, in our market, averages over 400 days using this "new" technique. Is this working in the best interest the seller? Or just reflecting "true" information. I say that in order to slow the downward pricing pressure in the Detroit Market, the MLS should cease collecting and publishing the number of days on market. It does not help convince the seller to lower their price. Competition does. The number of properties coming on the market this spring is increasing. Many sellers are in a near foreclosure situation and cannot reduce.

Does publishing the DOM aid the buyer agent? I believe so. It fuels the theory the property is "over priced" because it has been on the market "X" number of days. And who knows if "X" amount of days is too much or just about right?

View my previous post on this topic.

Other posts about days on market

Days on market, does it matter?

How much is that doggie in the window?

So I ask again, Can any MLS exist without Listing Brokers?

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Terry Lynch

LAR Notary and Closing Services - Saint Clair Shores, MI

David,

You raise some interesting points.

I am a member of both Realcomp and MiRealsource. I'm not sure but I think you are too. Realcomp also keeps a running total of DOM that will pass from one agent to another if relisted in less than 30 days.

I think MiRealsource was responding to the practice of many agents relisting their homes on a regular basis to make them look like they have been on the market a shorter period of time. I'm sure you have seen this, how many times have you done a search to find properties showing up multiple times at different prices with the same agents.This hurts us all by skewing data.

I agree with you and think the membership could have come up with a better solution to this problem such as software that would prevent the same address from being listed more than once at a time. Or even fines( I'm not sure if they already have fines in place- if so then better enforcement).

Mar 07, 2007 03:53 AM

David Elya

BROOKVIEW REALTY - Rochester, MI

ABR, CRS, e-PRO, GRI, SFR - Associate Broker

Terry:

So what if the listing broker re-lists the property to make it look "fresh"? Isn't that what a listing broker is supposed to do? Work in the sellers best interest?

My solution to remove all days on market fields would solve the problem of relists.

Also Realcomp has a similar policy but not as punishing to the seller.

Dave Elya

Mar 07, 2007 09:27 AM

Dave,

I agree we have to work in the sellers best interest, but just to play the devils advocate, don't buyers agents pay their share of the cost of the MLS? Most agents find themselves on both sides of the equation at some point.

You are correct saying that without the listing agents there would be no need for the MLS but you could also make the argument that without the buyers agent there would be no need for the listings. I think the MLS needs to balance the needs of both buyers and sellers.

Mar 07, 2007 10:39 AM

I don't know about you or your office, but when I enter into a listing the seller agrees to pay me (the Broker) a "fee" or commission if I bring a ready, willing and able buyer to the table to buy their property. A side note on the listing says that we may share a portion of the total commission with another Broker. I may procure a buyer from a variety of sources including but not limited to: a sign call, floor time, an open house, homes magazine ad, a friend of the seller, a church buddy of the seller, the next door neighbor, the previous owner of the property, even through a buyer agent who found it on the MLS. (Some agents are not buyer's agents.) It does not matter where the buyer comes from?

Would I voluntarily offer to a potential buyer who called me during floor time the number of days the sellers were trying to sell? Would I automatically tell the potential buyer that the seller started trying to sell at a high price, dropped the price 215 days ago, then 95 days ago, then 43 days ago, then 2 days ago? Would I mention that the sellers must be desperate because it has been on the market a cumulative time of 489 days? Of course not! A floor person by default is working for the seller. Only by establishing a buyer agency relationship should this information be disclosed. This "new" MiRealsource policy enables any user of the MLS to learn the 5 year cumlative days on market, simply by looking at the listing display (regardless of their agency relationship). They don't even have to click a button. Why make it easy for the seller to get low balled? The seller is our client regardless if the buyer comes from the MLS.

Now back to my question. Would any MLS exist without listings being entered by the Listing Broker? I think not! Let's think about protecting the position of the seller, our client, when we get a listing. Eliminate the days on market field from the MLS.

Mar 07, 2007 01:02 PM

It is obvious you are very passionate about this issue.

To answer you question, no the MLS wouldn't exist without the listing broker. I wouldn't have a problem with removing the days on the market. It really isn't a needed part of the transaction.

So, while I am in agreement with everything you have said, it is in my nature to present an alternative point of view and not really knowing you, I hope you looked at this the way I have, as a friendly discussion.

Mar 07, 2007 03:34 PM

"Days on the Market" should be removed from all listing displays

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