This week I lost a listing.
I don’t carry a crazy number of listings in this market. I could, but I want my listings to sell. Inside 24 hours of taking a listing I am extremely eager to see showings, offers, hits on my virtual tours, etc. I don’t want my listings on the market forever; frankly, I can’t afford the time or the money. Still, it was hard to lose a listing at my client’s–not my–suggestion. That, though, is the beauty of my listing contracts. Either my client or I can cancel, at any time, a listing agreement with 48 hour notice. It’s rare that I or my client have used the clause to cancel an agreement, but it happens, and it happened this week. In this market the first 10-14 days on the market are THE days. With our new MLS (FBS’ FlexMLS) system, re-listed properties show up as new listings (as they should) and the Sellers get the benefit of the tag: “new listing”.
It can be argued–and it frequently is–that re-starting the days on the market clock isn’t fair to the first listing agent. Give me a break. It’s not about the listing agent; it’s about the listing. In our MLS, Flex gets it right. The Agent days on market starts anew, the Cumlative Days on Market keeps tallying (unless it’s off the market for 90 days or more), but the listing shows up tagged as a “new listing” and some excitement is generated with that. I, for one, am happy my client’s property is getting their first 10-14 days again. While I am extremely disappointed that I didn’t get the job done, I wish the very best for my clients. If you are in the market for a lovely home, aggressively priced in the Encanto/Palmcroft historic district, here is a link to its virtual tour.
All is not lost. The week ended with two new listings, one contract and two new buyers. Still…
