We have made a couple of changes to the beginning of the listing entry process to help reduce the confusion that can occur when entering the dates from your listing agreement. We appreciate that each listing situation is unique and acknowledge that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to entering a listing. It is vital that the MLS system accommodates your seller's individual needs while simultaneously adhering to the legal dates in your listing agreement.
The changes we're implementing provide an increased level of transparency and enhanced confidence that the DOM figures on SmartMLS are not erroneously inflated during periods when the property is not receiving market exposure. This is a win for buyers and sellers alike.
When entering a listing, there are three possible scenarios:
- Traditional Listing- the property is entered on the MLS within 48 hours of a fully executed listing agreement.
- Delayed Listing- you have a fully executed listing agreement with the seller(s) but, for any number of reasons, the property will not be ready to be entered on the MLS within 48 hours. The listing is uploaded to the MLS at the seller's discretion (there is no set timeframe for entering the listing). No marketing or showings can occur until the property is listed.
- Coming Soon Listing- a pre-marketing period of up to 14 days from the fully executed listing agreement during which the property can be marketed but no showings can occur. You and the seller agree upon a date within that 14 day window when the listing will be activated (it switches from Coming Soon to Active). This Go Active Date can be extended up to a total of 14 days from the date the listing agreement was fully executed, but it cannot be shortened.
The date fields you encounter at the beginning of the listing entry process differ based on these scenarios. This article covers each and explains how to fill out the date fields so your listing agreement is represented and the DOM is accurately reflected.
Traditional listing
If you are entering the listing on the MLS within 48 hours of obtaining all required signatures on your listing agreement, you will encounter the following on the Contract tab:
The only difference is the field formerly called Listing Date is now called Contract Effective Date.
Hovering over the ? on the right side provides the following guidance:
The contract effective date of a listing agreement is either 1) The beginning date of the agreement, OR 2) The last date on which all necessary signatures were obtained, whichever is LATER.
As long as the date you enter is no more than 2 days in the past, you are in a Traditional Listing scenario.
For Traditional Listings, DOM accrues based on the Contract Effective Date.
Delayed Listing
If you have a fully executed listing agreement but the property will not be ready to be published on the MLS within 48 hours (you're waiting on professional photographs, for instance), it is a Delayed Listing. The Contract tab will look almost identical to a Traditional Listing with the exception of two additional fields- Start Marketing Date and Start Marketing Date Document:
When a date is entered in the Contract Effective Date field that is more than 2 days in the past, the connectMLS system recognizes it as a Delayed Listing scenario and automatically adds the Start Marketing Date and Start Marketing Date Document fields. These fields remain hidden until the system recognizes that they are necessary.
- Hovering over the ? on the right side of the Start Marketing Date field displays the following important information/guidance.
The Start Marketing Date is the date when public marketing of the property will begin. On the Start Marketing Date, you must update the listing status to Active or Coming Soon. It should be the same date used in Paragraph 18 of the SmartMLS Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Contract.
- Hovering over the ? on the right side of the Start Marketing Date Document field provides the following assistance:
The Start Marketing Date is found in the Listing Agreement or on the Start Marketing Date Addendum. Select the appropriate document type from the drop down list.
This field is simply asking for the location (document) that identifies when the property will start being marketed- the Listing Agreement or the Delayed Listing/Start Marketing Addendum. That is the date the listing must be published in the MLS as an Active or Coming Soon listing.
If you select Delayed Listing/Start Marketing Addendum, you must also upload the Delayed Listing/Start Marketing Addendum document to the listing as a private document. You won't be able to publish the listing without doing so (it is a required document).
If your office uses its own Listing Agreement that contains a clause/field that identifies when marketing is to begin, that is the only document you must upload to fulfill this requirement. You do not need to upload a separate document.
For Delayed Listings, DOM accrues based on the Start Marketing Date.
Coming Soon Listing
If you're in a Coming Soon scenario where your seller wants to pre-market their property before it officially becomes an Active listing on the MLS, there is one additional field that gets added to the Contract tab- Go Active Date (formerly known as Expected Active Date):
Even though the name has changed, the intent behind this field remains the same- it is the date that the seller wants the listing to switch from the Coming Soon status to the Active status. Once this happens, the property can be shown and offers can be received and reviewed.
Hovering over the ? on the right side of the Go Active Date field provides the following guidance:
Although not much has changed with the overall process of entering a listing, these relatively small changes to the field names and their relationship with DOM calculation are vital to enhancing the accuracy and reliability of market time information within SmartMLS.
Once a listing has been published on the MLS, uploading a new Listing Agreement with different dates will not change the days on market.
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