Average time to sell a home - question for real estate professionals?

Question

I was told that in my area (Renton, WA), 2 bed 1 bath condos sell, on average, within 38 days. Does that mean a seller will find a buyer and reach mutual acceptance within 38 days? Or that a condo for sell will close within 38 days (which seems far fetched)?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Days on the Market refers to the Contract Date not the Closing Date. So...you were correct in your assumption!! Days on the Market can be deceiving. For Example, if the home was on the market for 6 months with another agent and then relisted with a different agent and it sold in 7 days. The DOM would show up as 7 days, not the more accurate 190 days.

Answer 2

To add more to the previous response, the average 'days on the market' for your type of property covers, naturally, those which sell in as little as a day or two, along with those which may take several months or more to find a buyer. As is stated, it is the AVERAGED time which such properties are on the market, and is certainly neither a guarantee nor a promise that a buyer will turn up in this time frame.

And yes, it normally takes at least thirty days from the time you have reached an agreed and accepted offer from a buyer to the time the sale actually closes. Whether or not this additional thirty days is included in the average depends largely upon the reporting practices of the MLS in that area.

Answer 3

Typically the number the agent gives you is "Days On Market". This means the number of days the property was listed before it was under contract. Under contract means the Buyer brought the Seller a contract and the Seller agreed to it. It typically takes another 30 days for the sale to close and the Seller to get their money.

Answer 4

I am an agent in NJ. The general rule is that the time it takes from the listing date when it hits the market to getting a written contract from a buyer. Just remember that quick contracts are usually found with perfect situations which is not always the case for sellers and buyers.

Answer 5

The question is to vague in order to answer but I'll take a shot at it.

1. In my office where we sell on average 119 homes each year we spend approximately 21 man hours on each sale from listing to closing.

2. About 17 percent of all the homes we list never sell due to various reasons so you might say they take forever.