What Does Delisted Mean in Real Estate? 5 Reasons Why Sellers Delist

Reasons for Delisting | Can You Delist and Relist Right Away? | Ways to Update Your Listing for Better Success

Listing your home means officially putting it on the open market. Typically, your home will appear on all the main real estate websites as “for sale,” and buyers will be able to contact you and your listing agent with offers.

If your home is listed, that usually means you’ve signed a contract with a listing agent, and it appears on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – the main market directory where buyer’s agents can view all the active listings in their area.

A delisted house, then, has been taken off the market— it doesn’t show up on the MLS anymore, and it’s officially no longer “for sale.”

There are a number of reasons you might want to delist your home; maybe you want to remove the listing due to low interest, or maybe you decided not to sell after all.

But delisting your home comes with risks and drawbacks — and it may limit your options, should you decide to list your home again.

Before making a big decision, we recommend talking to a real estate expert who can help you understand the implications. Our friends at Clever Real Estate can connect you with the best listing agents in your area so you can understand whether delisting is the right move — or if there are other strategies you can use to achieve your goals.

Or, if you're unhappy with your current agent and looking to switch, Clever's licensed concierge team can help you understand your options.

👋 Get expert advice before delisting your home!

Reasons for Delisting a House

You Need To Make Changes to the Home

If a home doesn’t sell in its present, as-is condition within a reasonable amount of time, you’ll probably get a better result by delisting your home, making improvements, and then relisting it.

Once a home is open to public showings, you may realize that the home has issues that are keeping it from reaching its full market potential. That could include necessary repairs or cosmetic design issues.

You Have Personal Reasons

Sometimes, you may have to delist your home due to issues beyond your control. Maybe there’s been a sudden death in the family, a job change, issues with children’s school plans, or a medical emergency.

Selling a home can be a time-consuming and stressful process, and if you can’t commit to that, it might make more sense to delist the home, and relist when you’re in a better place.

You’ve Had a Change of Heart

In some cases, you might delist your home out of seller’s regret and decide not to go through with the sale.

When you have prospective buyers touring your home and you see it through fresh eyes, you might realize you’re more attached to your home than you thought. Or maybe you realize, after a search for your next house, that you have a pretty good home already and you’re not ready to give it up.

You’re Not Happy With Your Real Estate Agent

You may choose to delist your home because you’re not happy with your real estate agent’s performance.

Maybe their pricing strategy was all wrong, they haven’t been responding to showing requests in a timely manner, or the offers are underwhelming. Whatever the reason, you may want to switch it up.

Just make sure you understand the terms of your listing agreement – you’ll need to exit the contract with your agent upon mutual agreement or wait for it to expire.

If you’re in the market for a new agent, Clever Real Estate is a great place to start. Clever’s concierge team connects you with personalized agent matches in your area based on your needs. You can interview as many as you like – for free with no obligation to work with them.

Plus, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that Clever has pre-vetted all of its partner agents, selecting from top-performing brokerages such as Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker, and RE/MAX.

When you sell, you’ll save thousands with a low 1% listing fee, compared to the standard 3%. The average seller saves $8,000 with Clever!

Start interviewing your agent matches today!

Your FSBO Listing Didn’t Work

Another common reason for sellers to delist a home is that they tried to sell for sale by owner (FSBO) and didn’t get the market response they wanted. (This is very common; in fact, less than one in ten FSBO listings result in a sale.)

» Learn More: What Does FSBO Mean? Your Guide to Selling Without a Realtor

Can I Take My House Off the Market and Relist Right Away?

Unfortunately, probably not. That’s because the MLS has rules in place to prevent this kind of market manipulation.

Many MLS require a waiting period (usually 31 days) between delisting and relisting your home. Local rules may vary, so check with your MLS before you take any action.

On top of that, many MLS list the cumulative days on market (CDOM) for a home, and that number will include days from previous listings.

And there can be other drawbacks. If you’re using a Flat Fee MLS service, you’ll have to pay a listing fee every time you want to relist your home, and that can add up quickly.

Alternatives to Delisting Your Home

Before you take drastic measures to delist and relist your home, you should make sure your listing is fundamentally solid and that you’re giving yourself your best chance to sell.

Sometimes a small adjustment can turn a slow start into a lightning-fast sale!

Add Professional Photos

Listing photos make the first impression on prospective buyers, and high quality listing photos make a huge difference.

Statistics show that professionally photographed homes sell 32% faster, and for more money than average.

If you’re working with a real estate agent, professional photography is typically included in your listing fee.

If you’re selling FSBO, consider hiring a photographer. While paying a professional real estate photographer up front may seem like a big investment, those photos will probably more than pay for themselves.

Make Sure Your Home Is on the MLS and Other Major Real Estate Websites

If your home isn’t listed on the MLS, it’s going to be hard to market it effectively; you’re limited to yard signs, fliers, and any word of mouth you can start up.

Listing your home on the MLS will usually get it automatically populated onto leading real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and Realtor.com.

However, this doesn’t always happen; before you delist, you should check and see where your listing is visible. You want to get the maximum number of eyeballs on your home— competition is what drives up the price!

Even if you’re selling without a realtor, you can pay a Flat Fee MLS service to get your home on the local MLS, where it’ll be visible to buyer’s agents.

» Learn More: How to List on the MLS in 2022 (And Save!)

Offer a Standard Buyer’s Agent Commission

A standard buyer’s agent commission is 2% to 2.5%. You offer this commission to entice buyer’s agents to bring their clients to view your home.

If you’re working with a real estate agent, they’ll typically set a competitive buyer’s agent commission and include it in your listing for you. But if you’re selling without a realtor, you’ll need to do this on your own.

If you aren’t offering a buyer’s commission, buyer’s agents may steer their clients to other properties. That commission is the only money a buyer’s agent makes out of a transaction, so if you aren’t offering one, they’d literally be working for free.

» Learn More: What is the Average Realtor Commission? (2022 Data)

Make Sure Your Home Is Correctly Priced

Pricing strategy requires a delicate balance. Price too high, and buyers will assume you have unrealistic expectations and avoid what they see as a bad deal. Price too low and, while you may attract some initial interest, many buyers will assume your home has hidden, undisclosed problems and steer clear.

An experienced agent can help you set the right price for your home by running a comparative market analysis (CMA), which compares your property to similar homes that recently sold.

The bottom line? Before you pull the plug on your listing and delist your home, troubleshoot any listing issues that may be turning buyers (or their agents) off.

This may require having a conversation with your agent, or terminating your contract and finding a new one. If you’re struggling to sell FSBO, now is a good time to start entertaining the idea of working with an agent.

Start exploring your options with Clever Real Estate’s concierge team. They’ll listen to your challenges and connect you with top local agents who can solve them. Interview as many agents as you like – it’s free with no obligation!

Plus, Clever will provide you with a free online estimate of your home's value. Just plug in your ZIP code below to see how much your home is worth and get connected to a Clever partner agent!

💰 How Much Is Your Home Worth?

Before listing your home, find out how it compares to others in your local market.

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Recommended Reading

FAQs

How long does a house need to be off the market to be a new listing?

Many multiple listing services (MLS) require a waiting period (usually 31 days) between delisting and relisting your home. Local rules may vary, so check with your MLS before you take any action. That said, even if you relist as a “new listing,” many MLS list the cumulative days on market (CDOM) for a home, and that number will include days from previous listings. Learn more about delisting and relisting your home.

What does “listing removed” mean on Zillow?

“Listing removed” means the seller has decided to take the house off market – it usually does not mean that the house was sold. Sellers remove listings for a variety of reasons. Sellers may have a change of heart and decide not to sell, or maybe they’ve decided to make repairs and renovations before listing again. Learn more about why a seller might delist their home.

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Posted in Listing Your Home, Marketing Your Home, Selling a House