DOM on real estate search sites - changed?!?

Question

Hi Bpers,

I use realtor.com, Zillow, and trulia to name a few sites for searching homes.

A couple in particular I've saved and have been doing research on.

"Today" I pulled up one property and found the DOM as 2 days. ???

How can that be when I know this property has been for sale for some time (I don't have exact days/months but I drove by and I already talked to a realtor about it and it has been at least a few months).

It appears it was pulled and re-listed (although on Zillow that usually says when it was relisted, just has one entry as though it's new for the last 2 days).

I'm not sure what's going on and I know these sites are subjective on the information. I see a lot of discussion about Zillow in particular and not relying on the "zestimates" and such.

Is the realtor company setting this up to make it appear as though it's actually "new" when it's now. That's well....deceptive? :/

So is this the norm on these sites? I'm using them more and more to find out information to have something more solid before I even talk to my agent.

Would a change in seller realtors trigger an update like this?

Thank you

Michael Noto · Answer

@Daria B. Was the property de-listed with one realtor and then listed again with a new one?

That would impact the DOM you are seeing as well.

Daria B. · Answer

LOL Ok @Edward Barnesyou get my vote.

Daria B. · Answer

You know @Michael Notothat's what I was thinking.

One of the other properties that I recently found is now "off" the market. I'm trying to find out if that too is really off or just de-listed. It was in the 1933 era and too far back for me but I wanted to find out if things like the plumbing and electrical were up to date.

Edward Barnes · Answer

@Daria B. I'm a real estate power player. I invest all over. Or I saw your profile said Gainesville, googled "Gainesville FL MLS" :)

Daria B. · Answer

Hey wait

@Edward BarnesI sent that too soon! Honestly, I have never heard of GACAR. Awesome thanks. You're in Virginia, how did you know about this. LOL

Got one for Tallahassee? :)

Daria B. · Answer

@Edward BarnesI would need someone with MLS or GACAR login in order to access that information. :(

Edward Barnes · Answer

@Daria B. I hear you on the DOM.

Yeah sorry, forget Redfin doesn't serve all markets. Your MLS, GACAR, has public access.

Daria B. · Answer

Thanks @Edward BarnesI will surely follow up with an agent. I am not a realtor so I don't have access to MLS. I use the sites to narrow down my search prior to going to my agent to get more info.

Redfin I found doesn't carry all cities. I tried to use it for a few searches and it couldn't find my city and state I was needing to find info on. I even put in a zipcode and it kept telling me it could not find it.

Having the DOM at 2 days rather than the number of days it has actually been there gives me pause and thinking they aren't getting any offers. :)

Edward Barnes · Answer

My preferred real estate website is Redfin. I think it's better than Zillow and Trulia, but I use those as well. All these websites are pulling from the MLS and county websites for their info and they're imperfect, but the layouts are more user-friendly and there's more info at the tip of your finger tips than just the MLS. Anyway, if you find a "deal" I would just verify it with realtor.com or whatever your local MLS website is. For example, I've found a Ben Leybovich $34,600 "pig" on Redfin...on Zillow's it's listed at $88,000, and on Trulia it's "off market". So I went to the MLS and it's there for $34,600. On Refin, there's a $25,000 house that would be great cash flow, well it was sold like 4 months ago, not listed on Zillow or Trulia. Point being, don't rely exclusively on any one of them.

As far as DOM, I think it depends on the local MLS. Some will reset the DOM if it's off the market for 30 days, others 90 days. Some track a cumulative DOM, CDOM, where if you pull it off the market and put it back on the it keeps adding days and doesn't reset till it's sold. Certainly would be beneficial to realtors to reset the DOM so the listing doesn't get stale, interest is always highest on new listings, and I'm sure it's been done plenty of time. Doubt anybody's scamming Zillow though, it's probably just pulling in bad data.

DOM on real estate search sites - changed?!?

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