DOM = Days On Market
When I provide listing sheets to Maui buyers, they often ask, "what does DOM mean?". DOM is the abbreviation for Days On Market, and on Maui that means the number of days since it was listed until it closes. Here on Maui, we use the Paragon MLS system, which assigns the value of 0 to the first day of being listed.
In some markets, the DOM stands for the number of days since the property hit the market, until it goes under contract. On internet listing aggregation sites, like Zillow and Trulia, the listing date might be stated as the day it was entered into that system, causing more confusion as to how long the home has actually been for sale.
DO YOU CARE? - As a buyer, do you care how long a home has been on the market? Does it make a difference to your opinion of the property? When you are searching for a new home, do you ignore the ones that have been on the market for 300 days or longer? Why? Maybe the price was too high at first, and now they have lowered the price. Maybe the sellers went ahead and put that new roof on, and repainted the house inside and out. Maybe the time is now!
There can be many reasons why a property shows a high DOM number. Here on Maui if a property goes under contract and is tied up in escrow for months, only to fall out and return to the market, the DOM has accumulated during those months. If a seller takes their home off the market while they go on vacation or remodel (TOM - Temporarily Off Market), those days are still adding up. Buyers really need to talk with their Realtor to understand the situation in each case.
CDOM - Cumulative Days On Market - Here's another situation, some MLS providers actually calculate the total days on market, even if the home has been on and off the market a number of times. Again, there can be many factors to account for this, and it's best to get the whole story by speaking with a Real Estate professional who can help to shed some light on things.
I guess I'm trying to say this to buyers - don't let the DOM change your opinion of a listing... just because a home has been on the market for a long time, you should still consider it as an option... go and take a look and see if it's the right home for you.
MAUI Buyers and sellers - let me know how I can help you with your Real Estate transactions.
Aloha from Maui - Georgina M. Hunter R(S) e-Pro - (808) 283-0635 - EMAIL - My Maui Website
Other Q&A posts:
DOM Days on Market can be confusing. Many boards don't use a Cumulative Days on Market, so you have to check prior listings to see if it's 90 days or 690 days. Also, some agents improperly pull a listing off and immediately put it back on as a new listing. Yes, we can research for buyers when there were price reductions, when there were improvements, if there was a contract that fell through - but I wonder why we have this statistic. Let's just look at where the home is priced now in terms of the current market.
Sharon - I agree. Buyers need to get over thinking that DOM has anything to do with what a home is worth. In our market, a listing has to be off market for 30 days or more before it can be "refreshed".
Some agents think they are so smart when they pull a listing for 60 days and on day 61 re-list the property. Starts the DOM at zero again, but it doesn't change the history. I tend to check the history, and can tell when a agent has done this.
Bob - thanks for your thoughts. We can also check the history easily with 1 click. Being in a small market, we do see a lot of the same homes come and go over the years.
DOM can be confusing. We now have a new term - PMP , Property marketing period.
Nice looking home in your blog post. :) One thing worth noting specific to our own market, is that Maui generally was a higher DOM locale even during the peak of our market.
Ours is just the days on the market for the current listing. You have to do a property history to get them all.
Georgina, I am with you one hundred per cent. We need to bring these point out to the buyers so they understand. In our MLS System we can look at Listing History. I always bring that out for the Buyers to see and educate them on a property they like and want to make an offer. Love your post.
Gita - I have not heard of PMP before, I guess that would be like CDOM then?
Pete - you're right about that beautiful home - and yes our DOM is generally larger in part because we count the whole time, unlike some markets that only count until it goes under contract.
Denise - likewise with ours.
Endre - good for you... we do need to educate the buyers so they understand all the factors
I think buyer think they can use this to make a low ball offer. i have had it happen a few times. if the housr is sitting and offers are few sellers are more apt to take the low ball offer.
Great information for those who don't know what these letters stand for - a VERY interesting home there!!!!!!!!!
Sharon - we still need to explain each situation to the buyers as the DOM can be the result of many factors
BJ - we take a lot for granted, and sometimes buyers have no idea what DOM means on the printouts we hand them. This home and cottage are on 2 acres upcountry. Beautiful hand crafted details by the owner/builder/contractor - you would be amazed - master suite to die for. Fab ocean views.
Great post -- Depending on your MLS provider, the # of DOM can be deceiving if they don't provide the CDOM. Regardless, buyers shouldn't shy away from a home that's been on the market for 6+ months... it could have been priced too high initially, it could have been under contract and it fell though, the list goes on and on!
Hello Georgina,
Thanks for speaking on my favorite subject.
Click here for my thoughts!
http://activerain.com/blogsview/97915/Ditching-days-on-market
Kerry - there are so many reasons not to just pass it over.
David - I will check out your thoughts now - thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the interesting post. Aloha!
Tony
Tony - glad to be helpful. I hope some buyers will also find it helpful.