HOW LONG HAS THAT HOME BEEN FOR SALE?
INDUSTRY NEWS, REAL ESTATE PRACTICE, SHASTA COUNTY, TIPS FOR BUYERS, TIPS FOR SELLERS
November 12th, 2008
Virtually every buyer asks this question when presented a property of interest for 
possible purchase. The answer your agent gives you could be wrong if the listing agent has engaged in a common practice called “churning.” This happens when an old listing is canceled and relisted and reintroduced as “new” to rekindle activity.
The NAR’s Professional Standards Committee issued a white paper this past week that offers Realtors guidance on this murky practice. Agents have utilized this technique to “freshen up” their listings after a significant price reduction or if the property has languished on the market for a long period of time.
This practice has been deemed deceptive because buyers often take the length of time a property has been for sale into consideration to gauge the value and/or urgency in making a potential bid. By relisting the property, the days on market data field resets to zero on the MLS data sheet and also on web portal sites such as Realtor.com. The agent is attempting to dust off an old listing and make it appear fresh and new.
Shasta Association of Realtors recently adopted a policy that basically prohibits churning. The property must stay off the market for a month before it can be relisted as “new.” If the length of time on the market is important to buyers, they should ask their agent to research the listing history of any property they are considering purchasing. Even if the property owner switches to a new listing agent/company, the agent representing the buyer can extract the listing history of any property going back several years.
My preference would be to have a cumulative days on the market regardless of how many agents have offered a particular property for sale. This way, any potential buyer can have a clear understanding of how long a property has been on the market. I have heard that sellers and agents have been sued over misrepresentations of how many days a particular property has been on the market. I’ve had sellers ask me to cancel and relist their property, unaware it is not a good practice and can create a potential problem down the road.
The white paper does not set forth any new rules but is merely a guide for local associations to consider when establishing policies for Realtors in their market area. In areas lacking new rules to address this practice, agents are encouraged to incorporate language in the remarks section of the data fields referring to the listing as “back on the market,” “price reduced,” “reintroducing” or “recently relisted” to clearly represent the fact the property is not a new listing.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS GMAC
QUARTER CENTURY LOCAL REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE
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