“What are the ways my seller’s listing contract can end?”
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The listing contract you have with your seller can terminate in one of three ways. The listing closes escrow and the property is sold; having reached the expiration date, your listing contract expires; or the seller chooses to end the contract early and cancels it in writing.
In the MLS there are five statuses that can be used to reflect the conclusion of the listing contract. Using the correct one helps your peers find valid comparables and you get proper credit (as well as staying in compliance and avoiding a violation)!
For a listing that is sold after having been marketed publicly, you will update it as Closed.
If you sold the listing prior to public marketing, use Sold Off MLS instead.
If the listing contract ages out, the MLS system will automatically update the listing on midnight of the expiration date you entered from Active to Expired. You as the agent will never enter this status.
In the event you have marketed the listing under two separate property types --the most common being a Duplex that appears under both Residential-Income and Residential (in order to reach buyers who might want to convert it to a single family dwelling)—when escrow closes, the listing under the property type that matches the APN is updated to Closed and the alternate listing is updated to Duplicate Cancelled.
Finally, Canceled is only used when the seller notifies you in writing that they wish to terminate their listing contract with you prior to its expiration date. The Canceled status announces that your contractual relationship with the seller and their property has ended. The only time to update a listing to Canceled is after you have received the written cancellation from your seller.
First published in the Office Liaison Report on 2022/10/18.