BEST ANSWER
Hello Fred, One reason you are seeing differnent dates is the fact that Gap lies near the border of Lancaster and Chester counties and each county uses a different MLS. Web sites may get their feed from one web site or the other. Also the property has been on so long and at that same price that the listing agent has restarted the listing to restart the day counter. This is an attempt to make the listing look fresher. Based on the MLS that serves Lancaster County, it has been on 262 days and Chester County's says 210 days. You may wonder why the numbers are different. Agents in offices very close to the border often have a membership in both MLS's. Agents from offices farther into the county such as this one, New Holland, often only have one membership for their respective MLS. In this instance, the listing office eventually got around to listing it in the neighboring MLS, something that should have been done the day the listing was taken as that MLS has a better chance of selling the home based on the overall flow of people moving. More people are moving here from areas this mls serves than areas Lancaster's MLS serves. Lets say someone is moving from Delaware County PA. They pick an agent near where they live. This house was invisible to that agent until it was listed on the MLS that his region. So there was a period of time, 52 days, when this house was invisible to most agents from Chester county eastward. I always feel bad for people buying or selling in this area because they don't realize many agents will have diffuculty helping them at the highest level possible. Those agents with access to both often have diffuculty working both systems smoothly. I often see listings in this area only listed on one MLS or the other. You however will be able to see all listings on realtor.com and some other web sites as both mls's feed listings in. Good luck in your search.
Thu Mar 13 2008, 05:49