There are some unfamiliar terms in the Multiple Listing System (MLS). It’s helpful to understand these if you’re either searching the MLS on line, or getting listings from your agent. A lot of agents don’t even really understand some of the MLS terminology (particularly TOM and AWC). I’ll try to explain some of them…
“Active”: If a listing is active, then it is available for sale and there has not been an offer accepted. An offer may have been submitted, but it hasn’t been accepted by the seller yet.
“Pending”: This means an offer has been submitted and accepted, and there are no contingencies in the contract. Basically this means the property has been sold and is waiting for closing (although deals fall apart all the time between contract acceptance and close.) See AWC below for an explanation of contingencies.
“AWC”: Stands for Active With Contingencies. This means an offer was submitted and accepted, but there are contingencies that must be settled before the deal can close. There are numerous possible contingencies, but by far the most common one is that the deal is contingent on the buyer’s selling an existing property. The buyer needing to secure financing is also a common contingency. If a listing is in AWC status, additional offers can be submitted, but will be in “second position” to the original offer (ie: a backup offer). If the contingency can not be met, then the contingent contract would be cancelled and the backup offer moves into first (primary) position. Once the contingency is met, the listing should be moved to a Pending state, but most agents never seem to do that.
“TOM”: Contrary to what a lot of people believe, TOM does not stand for Taken Off Market. It means Temporarily Off Market. This isn’t a widely used category. A property may go TOM if a seller is going to be out of town for an extended period, or if the seller decides to do some repairs to the property and doesn’t want it shown while repairs are being done. If you are an agent and you start calling owners who property is in TOM status to try and “relist” their home, then you are violating all kinds of listing and ethical rules and regulations. (And trust me, this happens all the time.) A property in TOM status is still under a signed listing agreement with the listing agent, hence any solicitation of a TOM property is a serious violation and you can lose your license if you pursue it!
“Sold”: This indicates the property has been sold to a buyer. Sold in this case means the transaction has closed — title/deed have been transferred to a new owner.
Note: These definitions pertain the the Arizona Regional MLS, though any MLS would have similar terminology.
This and more can also be found on our Real Estate FAQ.
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If I were marketing this one, I’d probably have something original like “spectacular views!”
(I have no idea where this is. If anyone knows, please post!)
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Here’s the latest Phoenix area listing and home sales stats:
Current active MLS listings: 31,071 (Jan 2005 = 3,402!!)
Current pending (in escrow) listings: 7,920
Current AWC (Active With Contingencies) listings: 1,214 (What does AWC mean?)
Listings expired in Jan 2006: 1,563
Transactions closed in December 2005: 6,525
Transactions closed in January 2006: 5,256
January 2006 Sales Prices:
? Median sales price: $255,000 (Dec 05 = $255,000)
? Average sales price: $337,300 (Dec 05 = $329,100)
January Average Days on Market (DOM):
? Single Family Homes: 49.1 days (Dec 05 = 42.8, Jan 05 = 5.5!!)
? Condos: 39.2 days (Dec 05 = 27.3)
If you’d like to see more detailed homes sales statistics, including sales by month for Jan 2004 - Jan 2006 and recent sales by zip code, please visit our main site’s Phoenix Homes Sales Statistics Page!
(Data extracted from ARMLS - Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service)
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Greetings avid readers! In the last two days, there have been a couple of you that have posted a question directly to this blog. Now I love it when people post comments and ask questions—that’s one of the best things about blogs.
But I had an incorrect setting in my blog parameters that allowed anyone to register and then post an individual blog entry. The problem with allowing this is that I lose all control over what the search engines see when they crawl the blog.
I am not the type of person that lives for search engnie rankings, but they are an important aspect of making this blog the best it can be for the readers. After all, the better the SE rankings, the more people find the blog and contribute to it. That makes for a better thing for everyone. So I do need to retain as much control as possible. There’s also the little issue of those idiot spammers out there. This blog already gets hit with dozens of spam comments a week. Fortunately, some guys a lot smarter than I’ll ever be wrote an anti-spam “plug in” for WordPress (the blog software I’m running this on) that automatically kills the vast majority of spam comments. But it won’t work on direct entries, as it assumes I either write them or approve them…
I’m currently pondering the best way to implement user generated questions that aren’t related to a blog entry. One way is to utilize the seperate Real Estate FAQ, which is designed to accept user generated questions. I’m working on the best way to integrate that here, but for now, the link is in the Real Estate Links section of this blog. (in the right column)
I’ve reset the software switch that let people post new blog entries. Any registered user can submit an entry, it just come to me for approval instead of being posted here immediately. Commenting ability remains unchanged and can be posted immediately by anyone (and comments are highly encouraged!)
Hopefully everyone understands! I really don’t like imposing “rules” and limiting what my readers can do. But hey, it’s all in the name of fine tuning this thing and making it the best it can be!
Regards,
Jay
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We get this question all the time. Here’s the bottom line…
Having a swimming pool built is not cheap. If you spend $20,000 on a pool, it will not add $20,000 to the value of your home. Sadly, it may add nothing to the value of your home. Don’t add a pool to your home if you expect to recoup the cost upon sale. It just doesn’t work that way. Add a pool to your home because you want a pool. A pool is an outstanding investment in terms of recreation, fun, enjoyment, enhancing the appearance of your back yard and it provides great exercise. (In Phoenix, having a pool may mean being able to survive the summers comfortably!) There are dozens of great reasons to have a pool, but adding value to your home isn’t one of them.
(I should note that what I say above pertains to the Phoenix area. The reason it’s this way here is because so many homes have pools. In some parts of the country, a pool is rare and does add a premium to a home.)
What a pool can do is help you sell the home when the time comes. MANY people home shopping in Phoenix want a pool. We’ve had clients look at homes they loved but didn’t buy because there wasn’t a pool. Having an existing pool appeals to many home buyers. But note that there are some who don’t want a pool and won’t look at your house because it has one.
This question is currently the most viewed question on our Real Estate FAQ site.
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