In Massachusetts home that are new to the market show up as a “NEW listing” for four days. From a marketing standpoint your listing is only new once.
It is important for a seller to make the most of the first few days to the first couple of weeks of their new listing. From day one to day 21 is a very critical time for the sale of your home.
During this time period you will get the most amount of attention from the very best buyers.
If it all possible it is best if you can sell your home in the first couple of weeks.
What Is So Important About Being A New Listing?
There are a ton of reasons why being a new listing is so important for home sellers. Much of it has to do with a home buyer’s psychology.
When your home is new to the market, your listing will be fresh, new exciting….
As a new listing, your home will have the most interest it will ever have over the life of your listing.
The buyers that have been in the market for several weeks or even months have rejected every other possible home that is on the market or has been on the market. They are now waiting for that fresh new listing to get excited about.
You tend to get better offers that stick at the very beginning because buyers know they have to compete with other buyers to get your home.
The First Buyers Through The Door Are Your Best Buyers
You hit the market with your listing, if everything was done right, you probably will get a ton of showings the first couple of weeks. Then as each week goes by, fewer and fewer showing occur until they dwindle down to nothing.
The first buyers are the educated buyers who have been in the market. These buyers may have lost homes by under bidding or being overly stringent on home inspections results. They have felt pain and are ready to pull the trigger.
Alternately as your home sits on the market 70 days, 120 days, the people that are calling on it are bottom feeders hoping to get a deal or newbie buyers just entering the market place. You have gone thru the pool of the best buyers for your home.
The “newbie” buyer very rarely buys their first home they see. A benchmark has not been set for them. They need 5-10 home under their belt. They have not felt the pain of losing a house over a few thousand dollars.
You want the buyer who has felt the pain, not the buyer who is still living in the reality TV home buying, home renovation dream.
Days On Market Matters To Buyers
We talked about how a new listing is exciting for buyers. But there is also a perception a buyer makes about your home the longer it sits on the market. Days on Market matter to buyers and can effect your home sale.
Let me give you the visual. You buy a banana it slightly green and bright yellow. As it sits, the banana starts to get black spots until it is completely black and rotten. There becomes a point where the banana just becomes unappealing.
This what happens to your home. In the eyes of homebuyers this is exactly how they view your home. Somewhere during the life of the listing the buyers start calling and asking whats wrong with it? Its been on the market for so long. No one else wnats it, why should they?
So when its new and exciting, buyers are more likely to step up and make a good offer. The buyers will be more willing to accept home inspection issues as well the newer the listing.
As it stagnates on the market they will start to be more willing to haggle. They don’t have the fear of another buyer snatching it up.
Strike While The Iron Is Hot
We have established that your “new listing” will interest homebuyers.
And, we have also established that the buyers coming thru your doors the first couple of weeks are going to be your best buyers.
So the first couple weeks of marketing your home is critical and you as a home seller need to make the most of that time period. You need to strike while the iron is hot.
This means you should be fully prepared the day your new listing goes live on your local Multiple Listing Service.
Knowing How Important Your New Listing Is
One question I always ask sellers is….. what is most important to you during the sale of your home? 95% of the time, the answer is we want to get the most amount of money for our home.
Most likely the maximum price achieved for your home is going to be the first couple of weeks. Buyer interest is high and you will have buyers competing for your home. Buyers are afraid to lose good homes to their buying competition and are more willing to offer full price or even over asking, depending on the market.
Prevent Your Home From Rotting On The Market
Don’t Call Your Listing Agent They Day You Want To List
Call your listing agent the day before you list without making sure your home is show ready is a mistake. While not every home needs preparation time, most do. Sellers usually have thoughts to sell months before they actually put their home on the market.
Your agent can offer valuable advice on preparing your home for sale as well as giving you time to get your home show ready. Make sure your home is show ready before you list during the critical “new listing” phase.
Don’t Allow Time For Proper Marketing Materials
Not allowing time to prepare proper marketing materials goes hand in hand with calling your agent at the last minute. Proper marketing materials takes time. Depending on the services your agent may be providing the may, provide a home staging consultation, have professional real estate photography done of your home, provide floorplans, etc…
None of this happens overnight.
Make sure you allow your agent time to prepare the marketing you discussed so it is ready the day your home hits the market as a new listing.
Of course you can add marketing after you have listed, but you will be missing critical marketing time during the first couple of days or weeks. Make sure you allow your agent time to prepare the marketing you discussed so it is ready the day your home hits the market as a new listing.
Not Heeding Your Agents Advice
Listing your home is work. There are basics you definitely can’t skip like de-cluttering, de-personalizing and cleaning your home as well as maybe some staging. Going into the listing thinking you can skip the basics and you have wasted the most critical marketing period of your listing.
Often a seller thinks the market is so good they can skip the basics only to find out after months of feedback they should have heeded their agents advice.
Not Showing Your Home
As well as being work, listing your home can be inconvenient. You need to allow showings to occur and let buyers view your home unhindered. Showings lead to offers and it is important to let the buyers into your home immediately on their schedule.
Cant We Just Try
It is human nature for sellers to want to overprice their home for various reasons. Hoping to find that one buyer willing to overpay for their home. Unfortunately no amount of marketing or time will predictably find you that home buyer. And you will just be left with a home that expired unsold.
What happens is your home is overpriced out of the range of the right home buyers and again you miss that critical time period when excitement and competition should be high on your home.
Testing The Market
Testing the market is dangerous. Putting your house on the market just to see without fully committing to getting it sold can certainly backfire on you. Buyers will know you previously had your house on the market before and you will leave them wondering why it didn’t sell.
The internet has empowered home buyers with a ton of information and you can’t hide the fact your home was previously on the market.
Make The Most Of Most Your New Listing
You have too much at stake when it comes time to sell your home. When you make the decision to sell make the commitment to see it through properly.
Your first few days to the first couple of weeks are critical to the sale of your home. With home buyers having access to every home on the market at their finger tips within 15 minutes of being listed, they also have short attention spans.
You have literally seconds to capture their attention and maybe a minute and half to make them want to see your property. Lose them and they are on to the next listing.
When you hear stories of homes going 30k, 40k, 50K or more over asking. Rarely is it after a home has been on the market for 90 days.
It is the homes new to the market that get the flooded open houses and multiple offers. They have caught the best buyers attention based on location condition and price and the buyers are now competing for the home.
Other Home Selling Resources:
- Maria Mastrolonardo Why May Your House Not Be Selling?
- Xavier De Buck Sell Your Home For More Money
- Sharon Paxson 10 Questions to Ask An Agent Listing Your Home
- Kyle Hiscock Home Projects That Add Value
This post, Your Home Is Only A New Listing Once, was provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Realty in Middleton MA. You can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.
I pride myself in the quality of my work while helping buyers and sellers make dreams come true.
Real Estate Services in the northeast Massachusetts, around the Merrimack Valley, Southern New Hampshire including the towns of Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, North Andover, Newbury, Newburyport, North Reading, Rowley, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington, West Newbury
