[MplsPete]

Tia.

[retiredguy123]

Send a message to the listing agent from the website listing. However, they may only tell you the duration of the current listing contract.

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Send a message to the listing agent from the website listing. However, they may only tell you the duration of the current listing contract.

Yep what he said. Agent will give you end date, however it may have been listed, removed and relisted. Or it could have previously been with a mls agent.

Only way to know for sure, when you find a house keeps stats. You can also go to county website to see when it was sold last.

[Dusty_Star]

Agree with AsianThree, keep your own spreadsheet.

[CarlR33]

Originally Posted by Dusty_Star

Agree with AsianThree, keep your own spreadsheet.

Agree, I have followed homes that have been for sale for a while and all of a sudden they appear as “newest” on the VLS listing feed. If your truly interested in a home go see it first at the open house and ask the agent “so what is the story with this home been for sale long”. You can then gauge their reaction, etc.

[vintageogauge]

What difference does it make. If you want to make a lowball offer just make it then you'll know.

[Snakster66]

Yeah I would track the VLS numbers and start to get a sense of how many weeks for a particular range. Follow them and note when numbers hit the market.

Now…the house we are buying next week was on VLS for 1 day. But it was on MLS for a while before they switched over. Pay attention is the takeaway here.

[MplsPete]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Send a message to the listing agent from the website listing. However, they may only tell you the duration of the current listing contract.

Or they may simply lie:
I went to an open house, and asked the agent, "How long has the home been on the market?" "Only a couple of weeks," was the answer, suggesting it went on sale in early July. As I casually looked at the folder of info on the table, I saw a document related to selling, signed by the owner, dated 3/31.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by MplsPete

Or they may simply lie:
I went to an open house, and asked the agent, "How long has the home been on the market?" "Only a couple of weeks," was the answer, suggesting it went on sale in early July. As I casually looked at the folder of info on the table, I saw a document related to selling, signed by the owner, dated 3/31.

Correct. "Days on market" is an official data tracking statistic that the real estate industry regularly uses to evaluate the real estate market. However, selling agents often try to hide this statistic or they just lie about it to potential customers. The only way to really find out the statistic is to find an "honest" real estate agent.

[onfire]

The VLS database has a field for listing date, not sure if that is what you are looking for.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by onfire

The VLS database has a field for listing date, not sure if that is what you are looking for.

I don't think so. An agent will share information about a current listing contract. However, they also know about previous listing contracts that were used to try to sell the house. That information is used by real estate market analysts to calculate "days on market" data and to track market trends. Real estate agents will often hide that information for a specific house from prospective buyers.

[Snakster66]

Originally Posted by onfire

The VLS database has a field for listing date, not sure if that is what you are looking for.

Oooh, I've not seen this before. Is it a public database? If so, where might one find it?

[onfire]

Originally Posted by Snakster66

Oooh, I've not seen this before. Is it a public database? If so, where might one find it?

The screenshot is from an Excel I generated. "Market Date" is the original listing date on VLS, but of course for a resale it's possible the house was on MLS previously.

[MikeN]

VLS is very secretive about sales info. Not at all helpful and not sure why. If you’re interested in buying or selling for that matter they are NOT helping anyone with the lack of information

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by MikeN

VLS is very secretive about sales info. Not at all helpful and not sure why. If you’re interested in buying or selling for that matter they are NOT helping anyone with the lack of information

MLS is not much different from VLS in terms of sharing information about how long a seller has been trying to sell their house. If a house has been on the market for more than a year, agents don't want potential buyers to know it.