The most critical time when listing a London Ontario home is when it first goes up for sale on MLS. Homebuyers and their Realtor are searching daily for specific neighbourhoods in London for something new when excitement is usually the highest!
If there are errors in the listing, poor pictures or a short description of your home, it can hurt you.
In most cases, home sellers do not have any idea this is occurring. They may not know that potential buyers and their Realtor have bypassed the listing, disregarded it all together or frustrated when they get to view your home or pleasantly surprised!
Below are some of the reasons your home may not be getting the exposure and action that you have anticipated.
- The sign goes up, but the Listing Realtor has not turned the listing into the office yet, so the office not only has no record of the listing, it does not know who the listing Realtor is. Buyers drive by; they call the office and get nowhere.
- The Realtor has not loaded the listing to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) quickly. Again, the buyer does not see it for a day or two, and their Realtor will not see it on their frequent search for new listings.
- The listing appears on MLS, but when the buyer and Realtor get there, the lockbox isn’t on yet; there are no keys cut etc. If you are not home, the buyers may reschedule to come out the second time if they have not bought anything in the meantime.
- Your house listing is not up yet on any other websites, blogs or on any social media sites. (Not important?) The latest data shows that buyers preview homes on the web 94% of the time BEFORE they go and look in person!
- The MLS listing has mistakes. Room sizes are wrong. Poor pictures or not enough pictures. (Last week I showed good clients of mine a $639,000 house & they at first declined to see the property because of the poor or inadequate pictures. Their interest did pique up after seeing the house, but because of their first impressions, they did not make an offer! They bought another home the next day, 3 hours after it was listed!)
- Showing instructions indicate to “call agent for appointment” to arrange showings, but the Realtor does not return the call or, if so, the next day. The buyer’s Realtor again calls to set up a time, leaves a message or a page, the window for showing comes and goes, and the buyer cancels the appointment to see the property. Believe it or not, this can happen two or three tries before they can finally get in.
- The buyer and their Realtor show up at your door, and you did not know they were coming. Or, they show up at your door when you explicitly told the listing Realtor you did not want any showings. The buyer and Realtor leave or are uncomfortable if they do go through your house. All because someone did not notify you.
- You do not get any feedback about the showings that have taken place. You do not know why you have not received an offer yet, or is there anything you can do or change to help sell your home? The listing Realtor does not know either because they did not ask the showing Realtor for any feedback and or have not kept a record of who looked at your house.
You may think that the above is rare, but It is not! Frustration mounts for buyers and their realtor thinks:
“Am I going to get in”? “Is the home seller serious about selling?”
If you were buying a car and the salesperson said he/she was going to get the keys so you could take a test drive, but never came back with those keys, you would finally move on to another dealership, wouldn’t you?
Your listing Realtor’s credibility transfers to you and your property. If the lack of credibility starts with showing the property, the buyer and their Realtor wonder what else is wrong or what other problems are they going to encounter.
Again, did you know that 94% of homes sold have been previewed on the Internet?
Listing with a Realtor who has a reputation for being thorough will never do you any harm. Who uses the web properly, has a follow-up system and the finances to see your property through to the final stages.
Ensure that before the sign goes up and the listing gets to the MLS, everything from the lockbox, listing brochures and presentations are in place and ready to go. Ensure your Realtor has a system to let you view the comments and feedback about your house on a unique listing website. Do they have a checklist that they share with you before it even gets on MLS?
Do not let others get in the way of selling your home. Why not make it easy and comfortable for buyers and their Realtor to see your home, make an offer, and you are always in the loop, being informed and willing and able to sell your home.
In summary, the most critical time for a new listing is BEFORE it goes on MLS.
