We've covered how buyers can use MLS data to research the listing history and price changes for a particular property. That's because the MLS is essentially a database that contains a ton of information about every listing in the system. And it's easy to retrieve that information - even for listings that have become ancient history.
One nice advantage of a For Sale By Owner listing (one that does not use the MLS) is that there is no such history available to the general public. Buyers and buyer agents can't research your listing and find out how long your home has been on the market; they can't research how many times your price has changed.
Another nice FSBO advantage is that you can easily "start fresh" with a new listing should you ever decide to change your marketing approach. For example, let's suppose that for whatever reason you decide to end your listing with fsbomadison.com (a very popular site that sells a large number of properties each year), and you decide to list your home with a real estate brokerage. When you end your FSBO listing, everything about your listing - most importantly your price - is deleted from the FSBO site. Now you're free to start a fresh listing with your real estate agent. And based on the results of your market analysis, you and your agent can select a price that won't be impacted by your previous FSBO price. In fact many homes that started out as FSBO listings do end up selling at a higher price on the MLS (while of course others don't).
Unless you've made improvements to your home, it's much more challenging to raise your price once you've already established a history on the MLS. For example, check out the listing history for this home currently on the South Central Wisconsin MLS (property details have been omitted to protect the seller):
- This home was listed in March for a price of $399,900.
- The listing expired, and a new listing was started in May at a price of $415,000.
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