Only 2 Ways to Wipe the Slate Clean on an Old(er) Listing
Once upon a time, misbehaving kids in high school were told that, if they didn’t shape up, their misdeeds “would go on their ‘permanent record.'”
Adults know that there’s no such thing (unless you count credit scores).
But, there’s something very much like a “permanent record” in residential real estate: a field on MLS called “CDOM,” for “Cumulative Days on Market.”
Days on Market: 2; CDOM: 347
So, even if the owner of a home that’s not selling starts fresh with a new Realtor — or their current agent does what’s called a “cancel-and-relist” — the listing’s CDOM will show the total days on market, even though the current days on market will reset to zero.
Such a result certainly frustrates would-be Sellers, who are denied a clean slate (and presumably, a truly fresh crack at Buyers).
But, it deters what I’ll call the “wash, rinse, and repeat” behavior that used to characterize at least a few listings, which were repeatedly trying to vault (back) to the top of the marketing heap even though nothing had really changed.
Of course, it’s also true that savvy Buyers (and their agents) didn’t get fooled by such games: if they wanted to see a given home’s archive history on MLS going back 20 years, all they had to do was run on a search on the home’s address.
No Way to Circumvent
Until a few years ago, it was possible to defeat the CDOM field by means of an end run (albeit one that drew an MLS fine if caught).
One technique I used to see at least a few times a year: a new agent taking over an old listing would purposely input an incorrect property ID number, typically changing one of the thirteen numbers.
Or, at least I assumed it was on purpose (I suppose that could have been done innocently, but for the incentive and context).
Now, MLS is more sophisticated, and uses various algorithms to flag “new” listings that really aren’t.
Which means that there are only two ways to re-set a listing’s CDOM to zero: 1) sell the home; or 2) take it off the market for 365 consecutive days.
See also, “New vs. Re-List“; “Days on Market vs. CDOM vs. History“; and “Housing Market Perennials.”
