NOTE: As of November 2024, we have fine tuned the language throughout and updated the section for handling cases where agents want to bring a property back to the MLS as new. Please review the text explaining that case carefully.
Please send any questions to the team at compliance@sfrealtors.com.
As another holiday season is upon us many Agents will be planning how to manage their client's listings during this relatively low activity period. Traditionally, Agents have elected to take steps intended to 'pause the days of market' from accruing while the market itself is operating at low intensity.
The SFARMLS system supports several mechanisms for pausing listings in this way, and we have provided this article to help you as Agents make the right adjustments that fit your client's needs while still adhering to the SFARMLS Rules & Regulations.
With that in mind, let's look at the three common strategies, the limitations, and the outcomes that result when these are used. Please note that this is a companion article to this one on Cancel/Re-Sign.
Goal: Completely Stop Days on Market (with the intention to have the listing appear as NEW after the holiday)
This has colloquially become called "Bring Back as New" but really what this means is that you want to enter a new listing in the MLS for a property you had listed previously. There is only ONE correct way to accomplish this. You must fully cancel the listing agreement (the actual contract, the paper) and THEN update the listing status = Canceled in the MLS.
It is important that we remind Agents that retaining a listing agreement while falsifying the listing as Canceled in the MLS is a major violation (fine level D for Misrepresentation is $1000) and if you are also found to be marketing your listing actively on other websites, that such action is an ever greater breach of the MLS rules (fine level E for Clear Cooperation violation is $5000).
Once the current listing agreement is canceled in writing (and signed) you now you have two options for how to proceed. It is easiest (and best) to sign your new listing agreement with your seller with a future on-market date and then simply wait the 30 days before recreating the listing yourself in the MLS. This is particularly appropriate if you know that you will not be doing any passive or casual marketing of your listing during the 30 day period. In this case, you and your seller choose a new On-Market date that is after the holiday season and at least 30 days away from the cancelation date, and then all you have to do is submit your SELM to SFARMLS and wait.
But if you know that you are putting the listing back on the market after 30 days or more, and you might still be passively marketing your listing over the holiday, you may complete a new request for Listing Resubmittal Certification to the MLS before December 25th in order to have the listing show up as Coming Soon with a new listing number during this 30 day waiting period. If you know your buyer will entertain offers that come in even when you are not actively marketing the property, this is the best way to stay in compliance with SFARMLS's rules on mandatory submission.
This is the only way to achieve the Bring Back as New effect after the holiday season.
Goal: Temporarily Stop Days on Market for short periods (with the understanding that you cannot return as New)
If your seller (or you) do not wish to cancel the existing listing agreement, then you are not going to be in a position to bring the listing back from an off-market status and have it show as New with a Days on Market of 0. Bringing your listing "back as new" is only achieved by canceling the actual agreement, and obtaining a new listing agreement which then means it is truly a new listing as described above.
But that doesn't mean there aren't ways of pausing your listing in order to keep the Days on Market from accruing while you are not actively marketing the listing. In this case where you want to maintain your existing listing agreement and also pause the DOM, you should update the listing status = Hold in the MLS.
While the listing is in HOLD status, the Days on Market will stop and the listing will still be visible in the MLS as 'under a valid listing agreement.' You may still have to field the occasional question about your listing even though you are not showing it on Broker Tour and are not scheduling Open Houses for it. The listing will not get a New indicator when the listing is returned to Active - this was never really a convincing mechanism within the SFARMLS agent community who were aware of your listing previously anyway - but it will show as Back on Market. You can use the Agent Only (private) Remarks field to add any further explanation regarding the status change to HOLD.
Downstream data feed recipients will see that the listing is still attached to an active Agent, and is not canceled, and is therefore not a new opportunity of some kind that can be data mined (which is itself a questionable practice). This gives you the best mix of being off the market, while still being under your direct management.
If you have questions about how data feeds process listings of various statuses, you may wish to view our webinar on this topic for a full understanding on our YouTube channel.
Goal: Continue to Market the Listing over the holiday (do not pause the listing, allow Days on Market to accrue)
Agents often comment that there are still opportunities to make deals in the holiday periods every year. It is not uncommon for Agents to take advantage of the low inventory and seemingly low availability by staying on the market. In this case, you might deftly move the listing from Active to Hold (and back) as your seller needs in order to do some business between the 26th and 30th for example.
Being one of the few listings on the market during this period makes your listing very attractive to the pool of buyers that are looking for a special opportunity, or who are compelled to search regardless of the timeframe. Give some thought to how you can use staying Active during the holiday period to your advantage.
Of course, our team is here to answer any questions that you might have about listing statuses, Days on Market, and the always nebulous Bring Back as New strategy. Make sure that you have a safe and happy holiday in any event.
Please send any questions to the team at compliance@sfrealtors.com.