Let’s take a ride in the “Way Back Machine” to when you attended Orientation with me (I know, I know – for some of us that was a while ago!)  If you’ll recall, I mentioned that the one thing I needed you to take away from the MLS portion of your training was the mantra – 2 Business Days.

A few things have changed over the years – one caveat to that mantra – but 2 Business Days is still the golden rule for the vast majority of data input we do in the MLS.  Miss Linda has noticed that it might be time for a refresh on data entry procedures, so here we go!

• 2-business days * from the seller’s signature on your Exclusive Right to Sell or Exclusive Agency Agreement, the listing must be entered into the MLS.  When entering a typical listing, the list date is the date of the seller’s signature (if more than one seller, with signatures on different dates, use the last date the contract was signed)
• 2-business days from an executed Purchase and Sale Agreement (or offer to purchase) the listing must be marked in one of two ways.  This is a tricky-one so pay close attention to the details:
  • IF the seller is continuing to show the property AND there are outstanding contingency dates in the contract to be met (i.e., inspection, mortgage, etc.) the listing can remain active but a contingency FLAG must be added:

• • IF the seller is NOT showing the property OR the contingency dates have all passed, the listing must be marked as PENDING
    • Note:  Seller directives are not a valid excuse to violate MLS policy!
• 2-business days from the closing, the listing must be marked as CLOSED

*Here’s the caveat … IF you advertise a listing before the 2-day window, you MUST enter it into the MLS within 1 business day.  This is known as clear cooperation.  You can read more about this policy change that went into effect in 2020 here.

So, dates – what do you use when doing your data entry?  Whelp, for the most part (again, there’s a caveat!) you always use the date of the seller’s signature on the Exclusive Right to Sell or Exclusive Agency Agreement as your list date.  NOTE:  Seller, not broker.  This date starts the count (as described above).  Caveat?  If you are taking a delayed dissemination addendum with your Exclusive Right to Sell contract you MUST send those together to listings@berkshirerealtors.net within 2 business days of seller’s signature AND when you enter the listing you can use the DELAYED TO DATE as the list date.

We’ve added a handy informational note in the MLS to remind you about this caveat:

As always, if you have any questions, we’re just a phone call away!