Is the "Coming Soon" feature misleading?

[DSU Trailblazer]

I've seen this mentioned a few times since CRMLS has implemented this feature, but what does everyone think about it? I had some time driving home from appts yesterday to think about it, and I think the "coming soon" feature is VERY misleading. We've all been to the sales where the sale is an "office exclusive" or they shop it around to other agents in the area before it gets listed in the MLS. When it does go in to MLS it's tagged as 0 DOM with the comment "sold before processing," or something similar to it. This has been a practice for years and has always slightly skewed the numbers, but not on a large enough scale to impact the "urgency" of getting an offer submitted and make buyers think that a house is on the market for 3-4 days. I think the "coming soon" feature is being used enough to really drive the DOM down as it becomes more common practice and utilized MLS feature.

The few issues I see with it are that it adds even more stress on buyers that may have been submitting offers for months on dozens of properties. They feel like the are slowly getting priced out of the bigger homes that they need, or out of the areas they'd like to move to. The more homes that get lucrative offers during the "coming soon" phase lowers the average or median DOM that agents like to make their buyers aware of (I have a lot of Realtor friends on social media that like to break down the numbers every month to their following and they always point out how the DOM in 2021 is half or even a quarter of what it was last year). I'm in LA county and a good percentage of homes in my area (30-40%) utilize a "coming soon" period. I know there are lots of other factors playing in to the crazy price increases and bidding wars going on, but I can't help but think that the perception of a house being "active" less than a week may be pushing people to increase bids or impulse decisions instead of walking away or waiting for the next opportunity.

They should do away with "coming soon" feature, and require agents to put accurate information in their listings instead of putting the burden on the "buyer to verify." (AKA the appraiser) My understanding is "coming soon" was intended to garner interest as the home was being prepared for showings, but I think it is being used more frequently to keep the DOM low.

 

[jay trotta]

Not in LA, but IF the listing is coming soon, for what ever reason, I guess the question is; does the agent have a signed agreement ? If they have some kind of agreement can market time actually be "0" ?

Would this be similar to a "pocket listing" ??

 

[Sid Holderly]

Agents trying to legitimize pocket listings and give us many "0" DOM sales! Similar to included for comp purposes as used by some.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

I've seen this mentioned a few times since CRMLS has implemented this feature, but what does everyone think about it? I had some time driving home from appts yesterday to think about it, and I think the "coming soon" feature is VERY misleading. We've all been to the sales where the sale is an "office exclusive" or they shop it around to other agents in the area before it gets listed in the MLS. When it does go in to MLS it's tagged as 0 DOM with the comment "sold before processing," or something similar to it. This has been a practice for years and has always slightly skewed the numbers, but not on a large enough scale to impact the "urgency" of getting an offer submitted and make buyers think that a house is on the market for 3-4 days. I think the "coming soon" feature is being used enough to really drive the DOM down as it becomes more common practice and utilized MLS feature.

The few issues I see with it are that it adds even more stress on buyers that may have been submitting offers for months on dozens of properties. They feel like the are slowly getting priced out of the bigger homes that they need, or out of the areas they'd like to move to. The more homes that get lucrative offers during the "coming soon" phase lowers the average or median DOM that agents like to make their buyers aware of (I have a lot of Realtor friends on social media that like to break down the numbers every month to their following and they always point out how the DOM in 2021 is half or even a quarter of what it was last year). I'm in LA county and a good percentage of homes in my area (30-40%) utilize a "coming soon" period. I know there are lots of other factors playing in to the crazy price increases and bidding wars going on, but I can't help but think that the perception of a house being "active" less than a week may be pushing people to increase bids or impulse decisions instead of walking away or waiting for the next opportunity.

They should do away with "coming soon" feature, and require agents to put accurate information in their listings instead of putting the burden on the "buyer to verify." (AKA the appraiser) My understanding is "coming soon" was intended to garner interest as the home was being prepared for showings, but I think it is being used more frequently to keep the DOM low.

Perhaps you should contact CRMLS customer support to inquire about the definition of the concept, and how it is confirmed on a routine basis, if at all. MLS has relatively significant consequences for agents who "break the rules," although perhaps this status is so new that nobody ever questioned it. It is my experience that CRMLS customer service is very receptive/responsive to member inquiries, from appraisers as well as agents.

 

[RSW]

Our MLS has a feature which allows us to see the listing date.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Our MLS has a feature which allows us to see the listing date.

So does CRMLS. I think the coming soon status is only allowed for a small number of days before it goes to active.
I dislike Active Under Contract. Just call the dang thing pending.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

So does CRMLS. I think the coming soon status is only allowed for a small number of days before it goes to active.
I dislike Active Under Contract. Just call the dang thing pending.

Good point. What is the difference between "Pending" and "Active Under Contract" ????

 

[Sid Holderly]

In my MLS Pending supposedly means all the documents have been completed and the date of closing is set. Acitve under contract has s signed contract but has no closing date and might also be used for contracts with contingencies like selling their other house, waiting on bank approval, the appraisal or the survey. Higher or better terms offers are still accepted. The parameters of "coming soon" is still in flux with many questions and is being pushed on us by larger firms and neighboring MLS that has it.

 

[glenn walker]

I've seen this mentioned a few times since CRMLS has implemented this feature, but what does everyone think about it? I had some time driving home from appts yesterday to think about it, and I think the "coming soon" feature is VERY misleading. We've all been to the sales where the sale is an "office exclusive" or they shop it around to other agents in the area before it gets listed in the MLS. When it does go in to MLS it's tagged as 0 DOM with the comment "sold before processing," or something similar to it. This has been a practice for years and has always slightly skewed the numbers, but not on a large enough scale to impact the "urgency" of getting an offer submitted and make buyers think that a house is on the market for 3-4 days. I think the "coming soon" feature is being used enough to really drive the DOM down as it becomes more common practice and utilized MLS feature.

The few issues I see with it are that it adds even more stress on buyers that may have been submitting offers for months on dozens of properties. They feel like the are slowly getting priced out of the bigger homes that they need, or out of the areas they'd like to move to. The more homes that get lucrative offers during the "coming soon" phase lowers the average or median DOM that agents like to make their buyers aware of (I have a lot of Realtor friends on social media that like to break down the numbers every month to their following and they always point out how the DOM in 2021 is half or even a quarter of what it was last year). I'm in LA county and a good percentage of homes in my area (30-40%) utilize a "coming soon" period. I know there are lots of other factors playing in to the crazy price increases and bidding wars going on, but I can't help but think that the perception of a house being "active" less than a week may be pushing people to increase bids or impulse decisions instead of walking away or waiting for the next opportunity.

They should do away with "coming soon" feature, and require agents to put accurate information in their listings instead of putting the burden on the "buyer to verify." (AKA the appraiser) My understanding is "coming soon" was intended to garner interest as the home was being prepared for showings, but I think it is being used more frequently to keep the DOM low.

No it's not mis-leading . The coming soon feature is where the Realtor has a signed listing but seller does not want to be over run with fifty people walking through his/her house so it gives a DATE of when physical showings and offers will be accepted . It was implemented during Covid-19 to give potential buyers a chance to know the home is available and to decide if its one they are even interested in looking at or making an -offer its also a better situation for Realtors dealing in areas with low inventory so they can filter out what there buyers are or are not looking for.

 

[glenn walker]

Good point. What is the difference between "Pending" and "Active Under Contract" ????

The Active under contract is done when the listing agent has sold it but may have some doubts about appraisal or some other contingencies being waived. Its a Pending for all practical purposes and I use them as Pending sales and in my report I state Comparable-5 & 6 are both Active Under Contract meaning the are in escrow but agent is taking back up offers.