When do you post your listings?

Question

I always get surprised when I see listings posted on 4th of July or a Saturday evening, especially when the goal is to receive the most visibility.

Looking at some data from MLS sold multi-families in Massachusetts (over a relatively short period of time, 3 months) the spread of when listings are presented is very biased towards the center of the week, which makes sense for weekend open houses.

When looking at days to offer you can see there is a pretty big detriment to not listing properly (maybe not in this sellers market, but it can have negative impact for your client).

Any other opinions or strategies? Does this change based on markets or pretty stable across the board?

Ian Hogan · Answer

@Christian Ehlers do you try and convince the seller that it is likely better to post on a different day and they are very determined on immediate? I tend to agree with @Tom Wagner on it being a possible disservice but understand some sellers/buyers are very determined to have done what is in their mind, whether it is detrimental or not. @Jason Regan Wait to receive offers at the open house (or make a decision) or actually not posting until the open house is going to happen?

Ian Hogan · Answer

@Christian Ehlers The Worcester market has seen listing inventory rise a good chunk from May to June with a decent increase in market supply (months of supply), so while the prices seem to have slowed some buyers the inventory has still been leaving the market faster than even last year. I think we are hitting the point where inventory will see more price reductions to account for buying power due to rates.

Jonathan Bombaci · Answer

Great info to present to clients and we normally recommend listing on a Tuesday or Wednesday with open houses Saturday and Sunday. Now to play Devils Advocate if you are listing a property in an over-saturated Buyers market maybe going live on an odd day to you avoid the noise of too many listings coming on at once will get you noticed. At the park end of the day we advise the best we can buy do what the customer wants and I’ve definitely gone live on days I didn’t agree with.

Tom Wagner · Answer

In my opinion: any agents posting on a day other than Tuesday or Wednesday are doing their clients a disservice. The goal should be to maximize open house interest for the first weekend, and Tuesday or Wednesday are the best days to do that.

Lexey Vezzoso · Answer

Hi Ian!My strategy for when to list is to put the property as coming soon on the MLS on Monday and then have it go active on Thursday. This has always worked really well for me and gotten more eyes on the property prior to going live. I hope this helps!-Lexey

Christian Ehlers · Answer

For me it also depends what the seller wants to do, for instance I've had many that are 100% determined to list as soon as possible, after calling me on a friday night LOL. So we get pictures done the next day and list ASAP.However if it were the IDEAL timeline I would go with what you are looking at, List on a tuesday, wednesday when the most amount of buyers are looking and will be interested in scheduling showings, and then let showings and open houses begin either that weekend or whenever the sellers are able to be out of the house for a bit. In this market we are seeing homes get offers within the first day sometimes, but we usually hold out for at least 1 weekend to try and get the most exposure that we can. I would imagine the strategy would change a bit depending on how high or low days on market is for an area.

Jason Regan · Answer

I Tend to list my properties on Wednesday. This will make it so it will hit everyone's inbox Thursday. I set up an open house in order to try to get them excited to get in early and make a big offer to get the open house cancelled. This has worked in the past, right now I am seeing people actually wait to the open house. I don't know if this is because its easier for the agent to send their people to the open house to show it.

Eric Puffenberger · Answer

Thanks all for information and debate on when it's best to post a listing! I agree, having the data presented in the posts above would be valuable information for sellers.

Shannon Allen · Answer

If the property is owner-occupied I usually recommend listing on Thursday and allowing "go and show" on Friday during work hours and then during the open house on Saturday and Sunday. This gives agents a chance to preview or show a client without having to coordinate showing times. If the property is vacant I like to list on Wednesday and spend the next couple of days promoting the open houses for the weekend.

Christian Ehlers · Answer

@Ian Hogan I always try to lead my seller clients down the path I think will make them most successful in reaching their goals, which is usually getting as much money as possible and having a transaction with as few headaches as possible. I try to show them the benefits to them for doing it this way and explain there is a reason why we do, but I feel my role is to educate them, give them direction/options and then let them make what they feel is the best choice for them as they are the boss at the end of the day. I would agree with @Tom Wagner as well especially in this fast paced market, you only have a few days or maybe a week if you're lucky to get the property out to the BEST buyers possible for the best offer, as all the offers will start coming in soon after listing the home. Have Either of you seen any signs of slowing down in the Worcester and/or Boston Markets?