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The best deals on the MLS are usually the ones nobody wants. A house that just hit the market has a hopeful seller and a line of buyers. A house that has sat for 180 days has a tired seller and a quiet phone. This is a strategy built around finding the tired ones and sending offers at volume.
Why days on market is a motivation signal
Days on market, or DOM, is how long a listing has been active. It is one of the cleanest motivation signals you get for free.
The longer a listing sits, the more the seller has felt the carrying costs, the failed showings, and the slow drip of hope leaving the room. That seller is more likely to actually read a written offer and consider it, even one below their asking price. You are not looking for the hot new listing everyone is fighting over. You are looking for the one everyone forgot about.
Use cumulative days on market, not plain days on market, so relisted properties do not hide from you. Here is how DOM and CDOM work on the MLS.
How to filter for stale listings
Most MLS portals and investor tools let you sort and filter. Build a target list from signals like these:
- DOM over 90 days, with a separate list for DOM over 180 days.
- Price reductions, especially more than one.
- Listings that went pending and came back, meaning they fell out of contract.
- Expired listings that got relisted.
- Vacant homes, tired photos, or price-cut language in the description.
The seller of a 200-day listing with two price cuts is telling you something. Your job is to listen and send a real offer.
A starting offer formula
Wholesalers often start somewhere around 65 to 75 percent of the current list price on aged inventory, then adjust for condition, repairs, and comps. Treat that as a common starting framework, not a rule and not guaranteed math.
Your real number should come from the actual numbers: after repair value, repair costs, your spread, and what your buyers will pay. The percentage is a fast first pass to decide whether a listing is even worth underwriting, not the final offer. Run the deal, then send the number the deal supports. The free MAO calculator does that math from the address: 70% of ARV minus repairs, with a quick rehab estimate by square foot.
Here is a simple way to prioritize your time by DOM tier. Remember this is a general pattern, not a promise about any single seller.
| Days on market | What it usually means | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 30 | Fresh, hopeful seller | Usually skip, low motivation |
| 90 to 180 | Fatigue setting in | Send a written offer |
| 180+ | Tired, often flexible | Offer and follow up hard |
Some fresh listings are motivated and some old ones are stubborn. The tiers help you spend your hours where the odds are better, nothing more.
Send at volume
One offer on one stale listing is fine. The strategy works when you do it across many.
Aged inventory is a numbers game. Most of your offers will not turn into deals. That is normal and it is fine, because your cost per offer is low and the ones that hit can be very good. I am not going to invent a hit rate for you, and you should be suspicious of anyone who quotes a precise percentage, because they are guessing.
What is true is directional. More complete offers on more motivated sellers produces more deals than a handful of offers on random listings. Volume plus targeting beats hope. To find your own hit rate and set a weekly count from it, see how many offers it takes to get a wholesale deal. To make volume practical, each offer has to be fast and complete.
A complete offer is a signed state approved contract with your terms and proof of funds. It also has to actually reach the seller, which is why written offers get presented and texts get ignored. If you are going direct without a buyer's agent, the mechanics are in how to send offers on MLS listings without an agent. In Texas, the state approved contract is the One to Four Family contract, TREC 20-19, and its paragraph 5 deadlines are where volume investors get tripped up.
Follow up after every price cut
This is the part most people skip, and it is where the strategy pays off.
A price cut is the seller raising their hand. When a listing on your target list drops its price, do one of two things:
- Send a fresh offer if you have not yet.
- Nudge the offer you already sent, politely, referencing the new price.
Most buyers are not watching for price cuts. You should be. Set a reminder to re-check your target list every week and act on every reduction. Over time, some of those sellers who ignored your first offer will come back around, and you want to be the offer already sitting in their inbox when they do.
Keep it clean and repeatable
The strategy is simple to say and easy to fumble. Keep a system with three parts:
- A target list of aged listings, refreshed weekly.
- A fast way to send a complete offer on a state approved contract.
- A follow-up rhythm tied to price cuts and time.
If you are doing this by hand, the offer assembly is the bottleneck. Filling a contract and looking up owner and parcel details for twenty listings a week eats your day. I built SendMLS so a complete offer on a state approved contract takes about a minute from an address, which is what makes volume on stale listings actually workable. Whatever tool you use, the goal is the same: make each offer cheap in time so you can send more of them. The step-by-step routine for about 100 offers a month is in how to automate MLS offers.
If you want to understand the tooling category before you pick anything, here is what MLS offer software does and who needs it.
FAQ
What should I offer on a house that has been on the market for a year?
Start from the numbers, not the days. Work out the after repair value, the repairs and what your buyers pay, then send the number the deal supports. As a first pass, many wholesalers look at 65 to 75 percent of the current list price on aged listings to decide whether a property is worth underwriting at all.
Is a listing that has sat for 180 days a good deal?
Not automatically. Long days on market tells you the seller has had time to get realistic, so a written offer is more likely to get a real look. Whether it is a deal still comes down to price, repairs and resale value.
Should I use DOM or CDOM to find stale listings?
CDOM when you can get it. DOM resets when a listing is withdrawn and relisted, so a house that has been for sale for a year can show 12 days. Cumulative days on market carries across relists. More in how DOM and CDOM work on the MLS.
How often should I follow up on aged listings?
Recheck your target list every week and act on every price cut, either with a fresh offer or a short note on the one you already sent. A price cut is the clearest sign the seller is ready to talk.
The takeaway
Stale listings are motivated listings. Filter for DOM over 90 and over 180, watch for price cuts, and start your number from the real math using a common 65 to 75 percent of list as a first pass. Send complete written offers at volume, follow up after every price cut, and let the numbers work. No magic and no invented stats, just motivated sellers and a repeatable process.
Send offers on every stale listing, not just the top five
The strategy only works at volume, and volume only works when each offer takes about a minute. Start a free 7-day trial of SendMLS: type an address, it fills your state contract, and the offer goes out from your own Gmail with open tracking, so you know which agents to call after the next price cut. See how it works first if you like.