- Tom BrezsnyDOM or Days on Market
If location, location, location are the three most important words in real estate, then the three most important letters must be DOM or Days on Market. Over the last ten years, DOMs has evolved into a symbolic shorthand for market value for just about every new listing that comes on. Here’s a day-to-day look at how the average listing unfolds:
Day 1: Thursday – house hits the MLS. Buyers’ Search Engines click into gear. Seller is expecting multiple-offers very quickly. Buyers do their virtual drive-bys through the online photos and decide whether they’ll come to the first open houses.
Days 3-4: Initial interest is funneled through the first two open houses. If hundreds of prospective buyers attend and the listing agent is inundated with calls and requests for “disclosure packages” – then the Agent knows the house will probably sell quickly.
Day 5: The Listing Agent determines whether there’s enough interest to generate multiple-offers. If so, an offer deadline is set. If not, then a second round of open houses is scheduled. The Seller is confident but anxious.
Days 6-7: Offer deadline days. If three or more arrive, the price gets bid up and the Seller is usually happy. If not, then the deadline is retracted. Seller starts getting worried.
Days 10-11: Second set of open houses. If traffic increases that’s a good sign. Multiple-offers may follow. If not, then the air is starting to go out of the new listing. The Seller is very concerned.
Day 12: If renewed energy is there, a new offer deadline is set. If not, another round of open houses is scheduled. Seller is on pins and needles.
Day 19: Third set of open houses. No offers. Seller begins to panic. The more DOMs that accrue, the less the house will sell for. Buyers are no longer worried about competing with each other. Seller is despondent.
If anyone is heading up to Davenport to soak in the slow coast vibe in the near future, they should pay a visit to the venerable Church of St Vincent De Paul at the end of Davenport Avenue. On the front of that charming 100 year old structure they’ll see DOM painted in huge letters.
Non-believers in real estate may assume they simply stand for Deo Optimo Maximo or Greatest God in Latin. But I like to think they also mean Days on Market and that St. Vincent has become the patron Saint of worried Sellers whose homes have been on the market too long. During the Great Recession Sellers buried Statues of St. Joseph to pray for their listings. Why not DOM pilgrimages up to Davenport?
