Why Did You Cancel the Listing?

An agent called a few days ago to ask why did you cancel the listing? She was gonna show it, and now the listing has been canceled. It was there yesterday, she said, and now it is gone. Does this mean I can’t show it, she asked.

Immediately I offered assurance she could show the home. Just put the property address into MLS and you will find the listing, I suggested. I did not really cancel the listing. Felt no need to go into the long explanation of how to reset the days on market, which is exactly what I had done.

In fact, I received another call from a seller who wanted me to reset the days on market for his listing, but he was listed with another agent. Not sure what kind of role he thought I played in writing that blog, as I imagine I had made it fairly clear that I am a Sacramento listing specialist who solely represents sellers when selling a home. Maybe he thought I possessed magical powers or knew some secret to share for a fee?

But I could tell for certain that the agent who asked why did you cancel the listing was not overly familiar with that tactic. She worked at a discount brokerage, so I automatically assume those buyer’s agents are newbies. Whether she was I don’t know.

However, she was adamant that the listing had been canceled. When I explained the home had been re-listed, she seemed relieved. You would think the first thing an agent would do is check to see if the home has been re-listed. Well, they will learn.

Now that the market is beginning to pick up, I have reset the days on market on all of my active listings. We had good open houses on Sunday, too, which indicates we might be leaving the seasonal slow down. I hate to see buyers automatically and wrongly assume there is something wrong with a house because it sat on the market through the winter.