Days on Market: Does It Matter?

Real estate agents can give a lot of information about a home that is for sale beyond the price and characteristics of the house. One important number to be aware of is the days on market, or DOM. This is the amount of time the home has been listed for sale on the multiple listing service. The DOM can give you an idea of how buyers are reacting to the property.

When a house doesn’t sell quickly, it can seem stale and people start asking questions such as What’s wrong with it? Is it overpriced? Does it need expensive repairs? What am I missing?

Sellers:
If you want to get ahead of this and speed up your home sale, one thing you can do is to get a pre-inspection on the house. Doing this saves you a lot of time and you get to disclose everything that came up in the inspection. You can also use this to price the house accordingly, this way buyers can’t use certain repairs as a way to negotiate down the price.

Buyers:
Consider that the myth that there’s always something wrong with a house that has a high DOM is not true. A lot of great homes are simply overpriced. A reason as to why a house would have a high DOM could that a previous offer fell through due to buyer financing not coming together, or that the house itself has outdated interiors. Other reasons that turn people away from certain houses are busy streets, flood zones or special assessments.

If you find a house that meets all your criteria with high DOM, first you will want to understand why that is. Is it the location, a major defect, or are repairs needed?

If you do make an offer, be sure to have an option period so that you have access to the house to get it inspected. An inspection can reveal flaws that may cost and arm and a leg to repair. But the option period will give you the right to back out of the contract if anything comes up that looks complicated.