DOM Question on Selling a Property in Chicago

[Bijou Marguerite]

Hi, everyone,

I'm looking to see if I can clarify my understanding on Days on Market with the help of this community. Thank you in advance!

I listed a residential property in early July through an agent but was unsuccessful in selling it. In early/mid October, through the recommendation of my then agent, I took it off of the market. His rationale was to reset the DOM by having it unlisted for 90 days and then re-listing it in mid-January. This way, it it would appear to be a new listing when the Chicago market would start to pick up steam again. This same 90-day period was also conveyed to me by another local agent, so I didn't think anything of it.

However, recently, a third agent (who would like to represent me) told me that a 90-day period doesn't matter and that a property can be taken off for even a day and then would have its DOM reset to zero upon re-listing it a day later. They mentioned something about needing to justify why it's being taken off and then being re-listed, but I wasn't quite tracking.

This struck me as strange given what I was told previously, and I don't know how to make sense of it.

Moreoever, in looking online, I see that some sources note that, in Chicago, a property needs to be unlisted for 6 months(!) to reset the DOM.

Additionally, it seems like there are nuances regarding Average Days on Market vs. Cumulative Days on Market, and also whether the agent re-listing the property is a different agent from the original listing.

Since many of my sources (these agents) have an inherent bias, I would like to see if anyone here might be so kind as to break this down for me. I don't want to jeopardize resetting my DOM by re-listing now (after only ~45 days off of the market). But if 90 days is irrelevant, that changes my thinking.

All of this said, I'm also unsure of how important DOM even is these days when it comes to property listings. Do others here think it has value, even when a buyer/buyer's agent can track a property's full history pretty easily on the web?

Thank you for reading :)

[Ashley Carter]

Hi @Bijou Marguerite - I would echo what @Mark Reitman stated above and share my perspective as well. I've been Broker in the Chicago market since 2000. Mark is right - there are TWO "days on market" times in our local MLS.

- LMT (listing market time) - which is the days on market for the current listing. A broker can CANCEL a listing and turn around and re-activate it one minute later and a new MLS # is generated and assigned to that property and the LMT resets to 1 day. You DO NOT need a "justification" to cancel and re-list as you were lead to believe. The Broker only needs your direction as the owner - they should not do it without the client's knowledge and approval.

- MT (market time) - tracks the cumulative market time for ALL DAYS on market. The only exception is, as the Brokers have shared with you, if it off the market for 91 days or more then BOTH dates will reset to 0 days the next time you list if for sale.

DOES MAKRET TIME MATTER?

- In my opinion, maybe. 

a) The property could become "stale" and might be better served by taking it off and re-listing at a later date. However, as was stated, the buyer's agents can see BOTH the LMT and the MT dates if they care to look. 

b) Taking the property off with the market for the sole purpose of letting the clock re-set is not fooling anyone. In my opinion, that would be your opportunity to address any of the short-comings that the property might have; do you need to make repairs, clean, take new photos, more marketing exposure, easier access for property showings, re-lease a unit, adjust the price - any/all of these activities you would want to do WHILE you are off the market so that when you come back on you have a new "story to tell". 

Remember, buyers are buying VALUE. If they don't see the appropriate value they will take a pass and move on to another property OR wait for you to make a move (ie improve condition, lower the price, or re-lease for higher rental income).

My advice would be to identify which the items I listed above (make repairs, clean, take new photos, more marketing exposure, easier access for property showings, re-lease a unit, adjust the price) is holding your property back and address that and not take it off the market and wait for a better day. 

I hope this helps!