Concept

Days on Market

What it is

Days on market is how long a property has been listed. Buyers treat it as a signal. A listing that sells in the first week looks hot. A listing that’s been sitting for a hundred-plus days, two hundred days — way longer than the average days on market — starts looking damaged, whether the house actually is or not.

If you see a house that’s been listed for a hundred-plus days, the seller is now probably a motivated seller. They were not motivated when they first listed. They’ve been waiting for someone to pay them what they think it’s worth. Now they’ve been on the market for a while, their holding costs are adding up, and they’ve gotten real about the price. That’s when you can potentially get a deal on an MLS property by being the slowest bidder instead of the fastest.

The clock starts on original list date. If they cancel and relist, most MLS systems restart the clock. But sophisticated agents can see the full history. And buyers assume everyone else passed for a reason. Second listing inherits some of the first listing’s stigma.

Why it matters

As a seller, every extra day on the market costs you holding costs. Loan interest, insurance, taxes, and utilities keep running whether you have a buyer or not. On a hard money deal, a month of sitting eats a real chunk of your profit.

As a buyer looking at comps, DOM on the surrounding properties tells you something about market health. If everything in the neighborhood is selling in under 14 days, you can price toward the top of the range of comps with some confidence. If comps are averaging 60 or 90 days, you know demand is soft and you need to price below the middle to move. Using the wrong comp assumption here is how flippers convince themselves an overpriced house will “just need a little time.” It won’t. Time makes it worse.

The worst version is the listing that sits 60 days, gets a $10,000 price cut, sits again, gets another cut. By the time the price is right, buyers have learned there’s something wrong with it. You end up selling for less than if you’d priced it right on day one.

How it shows up

Price it right from day one. I’d rather price at or slightly below the range of comps, sell in 7-14 days, and bank the certainty than chase a price down the ladder.

If the first week brings zero showings, the price is wrong. If it brings showings but no offers, the condition or staging is probably wrong. Diagnose before you discount. Cutting price when the real problem is photos or listing copy just burns margin while leaving the real issue unfixed.

DOM also shows up in how I use the digital introduction to push toward the top of the range. I’ve listed a house for $30,000 more than I had initially planned just by listing it correctly with great photos and presentation. You get 5-10% extra on the sale of a home just from doing the listing right. That’s real dollars and it’s a faster sale.

digital introduction, holding costs, range of comps, comps, motivated seller