The SFARMLS team regularly fields calls and questions asking for clarification around the nuance of the various date fields in the MLS and how they relate to status, days on market, and how to bring back listings as new. In an effort to provide clarity around the various date and status (and related calculation) fields we've prepared this summary and guide to the meaning and uses of the various fields.
| Listing Date | This date should always reflect the date that the Listing Agreement was signed, even if that date is in the past. It is NOT the same as the On Market Date (see below). |
| Entry Date (system) | This is a system field that shows the date that a listing was first successfully submitted to the MLS - it is a date we do take in from our reciprocal partners for listings that do not originate within SFARMLS. Entry Date should never be before Listing Date, but they may be equal. |
| On Market Date | The On Market Date is required when a listing is submitted to the service. It should be set to the day on which you want your listing to appear on the MLS as "approved" and fully Active/On Market. Normally, a listing's On Market Date must be within 3 days of the Listing Date (see above), or you can input the listing as Coming Soon in order to set the date further out. See the heading below Editing Your On Market Date for information about changing the On Market Date. The On Market Date can conceivably be the same as the Listing Date and Entry Date if all of the activities (signing, entry/submission, and going live with marketing) are on the same day. |
| Status Date (system) | The system field Status Date is not editable directly by users. It reflects the last date that the status of the listing was changed from one status to another, regardless of what the previous and current statuses are. If you change your listing from Active to Contingent No-Show, the Status Date of the listing will be the date you made that specific change. |
| Pending Date | You should change your listing status to Pending on the day that the standing offer is accepted and closing activities start. The Pending status stops both DOM and CDOM from continuing to count. See the heading below for DOM & CDOM Calculations for a more detailed explanation. The Pending status also prevents the listing from terminating on its Expiration Date. We see listings sometimes that have the same On Market Date and Pending Date, resulting in 0 days on market, and these are generally misfiled Sold Off MLS listings. |
| Selling (Contractual) Date | Change the listing status to Closed on the day that all closing activities have completely concluded. See the heading below on Closed Listing Statistics for more information. |
| Expiration Date | This date, which is required when a listing is submitted to the service, should exactly match the Listing Agreement expiry date as it appears on the signed copy of that contract. See the heading below Listing Extensions and Dates for information about changing this value. |
Editing Your On Market Date
SFARMLS members can edit the On Market Date (OMD) of their listings that are in Coming Soon status. When you first input your listing as Coming Soon, you must set the OMD. Initially that date cannot be the same as, or later than, the Expiry Date. Once submitted to the service, you can go back and edit the OMD if you need to move up the go-live for your listing, or move it further out for some reason. While there are no hard limits on the number of times that you can edit this value, we recommend
ProTip: When you input your listing as Coming Soon and set the On Market Date, also immediately create a reminder in your calendar or set a voice memo that alerts you 3-5 days before this date.
Listings Outside of SF: When inputting a listing into BAREIS territory (Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Mendocino), the listing can only be Coming Soon for 30 days and the On Market Date (OMD) cannot be changed. Please keep this in mind when inputting Coming Soon listings in BAREIS.
Deadlines For Updating Statuses
Updates of your listing entry status from Active to Contingent or Pending, Contingent to Pending, Pending to Closed are each based on receipt of signed documentation. You have three (3) calendar days from receipt of the signed documents to to record the changes in the MLS.
Listing Extensions and Dates
A listing may not sell during the period of the initial listing agreement. If your client signs an extension to the original listing agreement, you have three (3) calendar days to update your listing entry in the MLS system. When you edit your listing, you can make changes to the Expiry Date, but CANNOT change the List Date (the date the original agreement was signed) or the On Market Date, if that was previously set by a change to On Market.
ProTip: Do not wait the full three days to update the Expiration Date in the MLS if your expiration date will occur sooner.
New MLS listings require new listing contracts: If you are attempting to "bring back" your listing as new, you MUST FOLLOW THESE procedures to first cancel and then sign a new agreement. There is no way to alter an existing listing, based on an existing listing agreement, to show as NEW (i.e. with zero DOM or in Coming Soon status).
DOM & CDOM Calculations
Days On Market - the length of time between the On Market Date and the Pending Date, not including any times that the listing was on HOLD. The DOM value is seen outside the MLS, and many sites and applications do their own calculation of something similar (Days on Site, etc.).
Cumulative Days on Market - the length of time between the On Market Date and the Pending Date, regardless of any interim periods where the listing was off the market (on HOLD, or other). CDOM is NOT transmitted in data feeds and is considered a protected "in the MLS" value that is intended for use by the subscribers to the service. Like DOM, some sites (such as Zillow, Redfin, etc.) do use their own calculation for something similar.
ProTip: If you cancel a listing, and MLS Support re-inputs it for you BEFORE the 30 day waiting period, the new listing will show the previous listing's DOM value, and once the new listing goes on the market, the DOM will increment starting from that value. Make sure you wait 30 days before trying to reinput the listing if you intend to bring it back as new.
For questions about the various date fields of the MLS, please reach out to the MLS Support Team by clicking "New Support Ticket" at the top of this page to start a new ticket.