Understanding First Week Activity & Metrics
The first seven days your home is on the market provides us with solid indicators on the pricing and the marketing of your home. There are a few key metrics that Dawn and her Team will track closely.
1. Number of Showings
During the first week your home is for sale, we expect a number of private showings. This number will vary based on the time of year as well as the price point of your home (residences above $3 million tend to have a more narrow buyer population). If we’ve had a low number of showings during the first week, we will look closely to determine the reasons this may be occurring.
After the first seven days your home is on the market, showing requests do tend to decline, but we normally anticipate a slight reduction for the second week your home is on the MLS.
2. Disclosure Requests
When an agent requests a disclosure package, this is generally a good indication their buyer is interested in the property. Just because prospective buyers request disclosure documents doesn’t mean they will make an offer, but it does show the number of more serious buyers. Dawn will monitor the number of disclosures requested.
3. MLS Statistics
Both agents and homebuyers set up searches in the MLS for properties that meet their particular set of criteria. For these people, the more conditions your home meets, the larger the buyer ‘audience’ will be. As new listings are posted on MLS, buyers are notified of those that meet their established needs.
The baseline criteria most people search by in the MLS are:
- Location
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Price
Other items of importance include school districts, square footage, lot size, proximity to amenities, in-law quarters, etc. Some of these are must-haves, while others fall under the ‘nice to have’ category.
Another useful metric in MLS is how many buyers have indicated they are interested in your home. MLS allows buyers to track homes by tagging them as homes in which they are interested or ones that are ‘maybes’. Both of these are good signs that your home will sell quickly. Within the first week, we’d like to see at least 20 in each category.
Dawn will track these MLS statistics diligently to gauge the buyer pool.
4. Realtor Feedback
Another valuable source of information learned during the first week is from buyer’s agents. This gives us a pulse on what potential buyers love about your home as well as providing first-hand knowledge about things buyers don’t like that might be easily resolved.
What happens if the MLS metrics are below what we’d like to see? The main thing to keep in mind is that the selling process takes time. Remember, the more people who see your home, the better. We will continue to hold your home open, approve showing requests, and keep your house clean and inviting. If we don’t have any interest after a few weeks, we will review the various options to see how we can attract more buyers.
Things we will scrutinize include repairs, marketing, staging, photography, and price. If all of these pieces are the best they can be we may need to make a price change. Although we work diligently in advance to price your home properly, there are times when a price reduction is warranted. Since buyers search in $25,000 increments, any change in price should be substantial enough so your home attracts the next level of buyer. Another option is to provide an incentive such as a closing credit. These enticements often help spur a buyer into making an offer.
If all of this information comes together and we see that buyer interest is high, we may want to set an offer date. This is a strategic decision that is handled on a case-by-case basis, and only when we are certain interest has peaked and maximum exposure has been attained.
What happens when an offer comes in? Click here to find out.
