Last summer, the issue of Coming Soon listings hit a peek of interest among the nation’s MLSs. As our industry is naturally prone to do, the issue was well vetted for more than a year thanks in part to the efforts of Mountain View, CA based MLS Listings CEO James Harrison and his Chairman Robert Bailey. It was discussed at every MLS conference and forum and MLSs created a new status to handle Coming Soon listings. Leading MLSs understood the need for this field and brokers learned about the inherent concerns of this listing type.
Today, most of the leading MLSs have implemented Coming Soon listings or as Denver, CO based RE Colorado MLS calls “incoming listings.” Coming Soon allows a broker to create an MLS listing prior to it going active. An MLS number is assigned but the property does not appear in search results nor is it published through IDX or listing syndication. The general adoption of policy is that the listing may remain in this Coming Soon status for 30 days. In some markets, the listing is purged after 30 days.
Depending on the market, brokers had access to a data feed that included their Coming Soon listings. This is particularly important for brokerages who want to set up an accounting file for the listing; or for powering management solutions for REO property rehabilitation, ordering signs, staging services, photography, or other marketing services. In effect, the brokerage is being supported with MLS data services that allow the firm to go through the steps of making a home ready to market.
Many MLSs believed that brokers where holding listings back to double side their transactions. There was probably a fair amount of validity to this concern as it is not a foreign practice in real estate. Surprisingly, there was less of this activity going on that previously presumed. There are markets like San Francisco where properties do sell in 24 hours if they are priced right. This continues to shock our sensibilities, but it happens. Listings go active for one day and go contingent or under contract the same day.
We hope as an industry that Realtors® appreciate the ethics of cooperation in the MLS, and the vital role that it plays in providing the seller and the buyer with the best market for trading homes. Coming Soon, as offered by many of our nation’s leading MLSs is supporting firms at accomplishing this task.
If you MLS does not offer Coming Soon as a listing status today, put it on the agenda at your next board meeting to have a good discussion about it.
Here is one of my favorite YouTubers – Margy Grant – Legal Council for Florida Realtors providing a short 5 min video about coming soon and the new rules they are implementing beginning Jan. 1, 20-16 https://youtu.be/9Vxe1aR8ONU
