An MLS listing does not age gracefully.

Here at Homefront LLC the standard term for our flat fee mls service is 6 months. An MLS listing is not akin to fine wine or scotch. It does not get better with age. There is no “botox” treatment we can give to a listing that is more than 6 months old to make it more appealing. Changing the price, commission, and or description can be helpful but there may remain a certain amount of negativity associated with a listing that has been on the market a long time. Like the “Pig-Pen” character in Peanuts, the listing may have a dark cloud following it wherever it goes.

Newer listings tend to get all the attention from realtors as well as buyers. Realtors can enter their buyer clients criteria into the MLS system and create a buyer profile. When new listings come into MLS that hit on the buyers criteria the listing can be emailed automatically to that buyer. A new listing is an unknown to the marketplace and will generate immediate attention as realtors and buyers try to discern if the listing is offering a lot of value of if it is destined to sit quietly in MLS gathering dust.

When buyers and realtors see a listing which they know has been on the market a long time, the underlying assumption, in my opinion, is that if the listing represented such a great value, it would have sold within a reasonable period of time. Even if the seller has cut the price substantially you may still have a buyer who thinks “I wonder what’s wrong with it” when they see from the MLS number or the “market time” field in MLS that the listing has been around for a long time.

For our clients who are unable to sell within the 6 month listing period, we advise letting the listing expire and then relisting with a new MLS number. I think a break from the market of 2 or 3 weeks before relisting may also be helpful. There are some seasonal considerations at play in this strategy that I can discuss with you if it comes time for a relisting.
We do relistings for a substantially reduced fee.