Should you list your home on the MLS?

Posted by Gary Hoeferkamp, January 23, 2023

Of course you should! A MoneyWise article in December points out the fallacy of real estate agents who share certain home listings only with each other, called Office Exclusives or pocket listings, while actively trying to sell it. In St Louis lingo, it is called "Withheld", as in withheld from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and may be pitched to sellers as a benefit. I list homes this way initially, as do many Realtors, but only to give time for sellers to prepare their home for sale, while strongly recommending they not let anyone in to see it until we hit the MLS and fully market it. While there are a handful of owners who prefer the privacy and control of selling their home to a very limited market, the vast majority of those home sellers lose out, and may not realize it.

There are also a number of investors/ rehabbers/ flippers that market directly to homeowners, claiming they will give them the best price and quickest sale, and will not have to worry about repairs, low appraisals, or people coming thru their home. While some of that is true, the evidence remains that those sellers will likely receive much less money at closing than if they listed on the MLS, even selling it "as-is" and paying Realtor fees. Same goes for owners listing their home for sale on their own, called FSBO, the study shows them netting less money at closing.

Per the article, and common sense, several studies have analyzed and found the benefits of the MLS to consumers, finding that listing on the MLS leads to higher sale prices and faster transaction times compared to sales conducted off the MLS (e.g., for-sale by owner and office exclusive listings) as it supports competition for their home and encourages the best possible offer.

Full MLS exposure also ensures all prospective buyers have equal access to information on all homes available for sale, and does not lock out part of the public. This particular study found that "over the April 2021 through December 2021 period, homes that were originally marketed as an office exclusive but ultimately were listed on the MLS sold for 22.2% more than homes that were sold as an office exclusive." Wow, that's alot!

Study link Bright_MLS_-_On_Off_MLS_Study_-_2022.pdf (ctfassets.net)

To summarize, unless you clearly understand that you will likely receive a lower offer and less desirable terms, your home needs to be listed on the MLS and fully promoted from Day 1. How else will you know that the offer(s) you receive is the highest and best?

You know I am not a fan of Zillow - except when they speak highly of our region! See below for their prediction that the Midwest will attract alot of national homebuying attention this year due to the affordability factor.

Zillow Predicts This Region Of The U.S. Will Be Hot For Home Buyers In 2023 (msn.com)

As mortgage rates rose last year, and other metro home prices spiked up higher than ours, our region stands out as an obvious pick in 2023. To build on that theme, see U-Haul's research posted last week about St Louis being number 11 in top-growth cities in 2022 - just sayin'.

U.S. Growth Cities of 2022: Ocala Tops List as Families Flock to Florida | U-Haul (uhaul.com)

Here is an update on local, existing home sales activity as of yesterday:

• Manchester had 1 (one!) home available and 8 under contract
• Ballwin had 19 homes available and 20 under contract
• Kirkwood had 15 homes available and 24 under contract
• St Peters had 23 homes available and 46 under contract
• Arnold had 14 homes available and 20 under contract
• Florissant had 81 homes available and 59 under contract

The ratios run from .7 to 8 pending sales for every 1 available. Adding the total of these 6 areas is 1.2 to 1. My last comparison in early Dec was 1.4 to 1 (and 2.8 to 1 in late June) with the available home supply DOWN 20% from December. That still indicates a stabilized STL market, and with fewer sellers listing their homes than buyers buying homes, the inventory is dropping and keeping prices up. Only Ballwin's available inventory stayed the same, all other areas went down, some dramatically. All pending sales, as seasonally expected, dropped. Florissant's ratio of more available homes than pending sales is approaching a balanced market, the first time in awhile I have seen that, as pendings have outpaced on-markets for 2-3 years now. All other markets are still favoring sellers. Manchester's tight market is extraordinary, no let up in demand there. If you go back far enough, a normal, balanced market was 2-3 available homes for every pending sale. A buyer's market would have been over 3 on-market for every pending, so a 1-1 ratio is still a "seller's" market. We evolved from an 'extreme' seller's market last spring, and the last 3 years really, to a more 'typical' seller's market right now.

I am looking to add a full time, licensed agent. Perfect for someone wanting a small office culture with easy broker access and many learning/ sharing opportunities!

I have 2 listings coming in February, a 1.5 sty on 4.5 acres in Wildwood and a main level condo in Manchester, watch for notices as they hit the market!

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2023!