What do we think about market time in and around Chicago?

Chicago and the Western Suburbs of Chicago are not unlike the rest of the country when it comes to “days on market.” Number are up. Considerably. An old rule of thumb back when the market was so fast paced was if you didn’t sell in 45 days you were overpriced. For the most part this was true with a few exceptions. Nowadays 45 days is 2004’s 10 days.

I think most people would celebrate if they accomplished that.

In these parts we’re seeing average days on market at or above 120 days. Doesn’t seem to matter how nice your place is or in some cases how appropriately you are priced. That being said it is a terrible idea to “experiment” with pricing hoping for that 1 in 1,000,000 buyer who would actually overpay for your property. It’s not that we don’t want to sell if for more than market value its more that the banks won’t give the buyer money unless it appraises. Can get tricky. My broker has a great line when it comes to overpriced property, “they’re on the market not IN THE MARKET.” True.

The whole reason I am writing about this is not to preach about pricing. That is a decision that is made between seller and agent. You ever want to know my take on over pricing a place I’ll be more than happy to tell you dozens of horror stories. Today I’m trying to talk more about the perception of market time. I think most buyers understand that it is a good market for them to be looking. With said market times up they are getting better deals on places than they would have 2 years ago and probably better than if they waited ’till next year. Like the Chicago Cubs. When they see 180 days on market they’re not turned off like they used to be. 180 days used to mean something was wrong. Now, it means there is a potential deal to be made. Good properties with nothing wrong with them will take months to sell. This is a reality we all have to adjust to. I’m proud of my buyers as they seemed to be grasping this concept before I even get a chance to discuss.

The reason I’m rambling on about this topic is because of a blog post by an agent in St. Paul, MN. I have to give her credit for the subject as I was planning on writing about something else today. She was talking about the practice of re-listing a property to refresh its market time. She wanted to get peoples take on it but did not say if she liked it or not. My opinion is it is wrong. Taking a property that is 200 days on the market for the sole purpose of rewinding the market time is 100% wrong with a few exceptions. If a property expires and is re-listed, is rented for 6 months or switches companies is an example of when it is somewhat okay. A few years ago the MLSNI changed its policy. Now in order to reset market time a property has to be off market for 3 months. Even then any agent worth anything will still be able to look up a full history to disclose to their buyers.

When looking at a listing now there are two types of market time. There is “market time” which is the market time for the current listing, with the current company and with no interruptions. Then there is “listing market time” which discloses the total market time for any listing that has been on the market without the 3 month interruption to reset. So if you’re on for 90 days with Company A and re-list with Company B your market time will have two numbers. It will show 30 days with Company B as current “market time” but will also show 120 as its listing market time because of its days (90) with Company A. Make sense? I hope so.

The fact of the matter is full disclosure with anything that has to do with buying and selling real estate. It you’re trying to reset a listing and nothing with this listing has changed, be it price or company or whatever, you’re deceiving the general public. As much as you have responsibility to your seller you also have a strict code of ethics that all Realtor adhere to. I’m rambling. Would love to get peoples thoughts on the subject of market time. I know I went off about it in several different ways but would love to have a discussion.