Well, one benefit is that the DOM counter stops and starts up again, I believe. At least it did for us when we took ours off the market for about 4 months. Lower DOM #'s always look better than higher ones.

Also, perhaps they want to do some work? or have something planned that they'd preferred not to have to deal with showings? Example: our 1st listing ran out in October. We decided to take the house off the market so we could enjoy the holidays, and so we could do some additional spiffing that would have been difficult to do when the house was listed--removing wallpaper (which, of course, meant we found some wall repair to do), painting, etc. Then we relisted in mid-January, and sold in 5.5 weeks.

I think there are probably good reasons to do either--keep the listing going and just dropping the price; and taking a short break before relisting.

Well, one benefit is that the DOM counter stops and starts up again, I believe.

It depends on the MLS, I think. At least where we live, and looking at listings via Redfin, it's very easy to see that the house was unlisted and relisted, and to see the true cumulative days on market. It's totally normal to see houses where the listing expires and then it's relisted, or where it's unlisted for a little while and re-listed. But when I see houses that are unlisted and relisted immediately for no apparent reason other than to reset DOM, I always think it looks a little bit shady. Especially when it happens many times. It looks like the seller and agent are trying to pull one over on buyers. That wouldn't keep me from looking at or buying the house, but it does sometimes create a slightly negative impression.

Most buyers to today keep a close eye on their market. As mentioned redfin is very transparent and will show the listing and relisting, so there is no advantage. It does portray the seller and/or agent as deceptive or clueless!

Well it depends on the MLS. Around here, the general public can set up a saved search on MLS to get new listing that meet certain criteria. When I was looking I got links to those emailed to me every day. So taking off and putting it back on would cause it to be sent out as a new listing. Theoretically someone who had missed the original listing of the house (or thought it was too high) who is still looking might see the "new" listing and it draw attention back to the house. This did happen to us a couple of times looking. A house that we had crossed off the list for whatever reason got relisted and then came back to our attention and we were now interested in it.

As for DOM, around here it does reset the DOM counter. However, on a report it will show an asterisk by the DOM and if you get a history report on the house you can find out how long it has really been listed and the price history. That said, lots of people don't ask to get that history and may, in fact, think it is a new listing particularly people who are new to the market.

I don't think delisting and relisting fools anyone. Around our area with sites like Redfin, you can see how often a house has been withdrawn from the market and put back on. And when we were looking, for the ones that for some reason didn't show up on Redfin as relisted, our realtor would look at her database and give us this information before we looked at the house.

Any buyer who has been looking around for a while knows which listings are really new and which are not.

You can find out whether a house was pulled and relisted, but there are many reasons which could cause that. In this day and age, houses go to contract and the buyer doesn't get the financing and the house goes back on. When we were selling our house in NY, our agent changed agencies one month after listing. We wanted to stay with her and waited until she got settled with a new agency. Our house was pulled and relisted. We looked at a house yesterday which was on the market over a year. It had been pulled twice and relisted. When I mentioned that to my agent, she said her original agent died. The seller used the agents husband who died 6-months later.

When a house shows it has been listed for a long time, a buyer will assume they have a better chance of negotiating a lower price. Sometimes that is true.

I wouldn't let that stop me from pulling my listing. You can always say you had work done on the house.

Jane