From photo timing to pricing strategy, the opening days of your listing carry more weight than most sellers realize.

 

The first 10 days on the market are the most important, and almost everything that makes them work happens before your listing ever goes live. That first impression is hard to redo, so getting the launch right matters more than most sellers realize. Here's how I approach those opening days.

Timing the launch around how listings actually go live. I like to put a listing live in the evening, because it can take a few hours for the photos to fully process. For the first three or four hours, a listing might only show three or four pictures, and that's exactly when you don't want buyers forming a first impression. Going live in the evening means that by the next morning, the listing is fully loaded and ready on Zillow Showcase, the premium viewing format, with every photo in place. Timing it precisely is part of protecting that first impression.

A description that tells the home's story. The MLS description has to be more than a list of features. I gather all the details from my sellers, the things they love about the home and the moments that made it special, the things I'd never know unless they told me, and our professional description writer turns that into one beautiful description that tells a story. 

That matters because the story is what people actually buy. Buyers are asking, "Can I see myself here?" A description written to help them picture their life in the home does far more than a spec sheet ever could.

Treating the listing as a collaboration. I see the listing process as a partnership with my sellers. I want them to approve the order of the photos and sign off on the description, and I always ask whether there's anything else they think we should include. These are details no one can get right without doing this day after day, year after year, and that experience is what shapes the choices that make a listing stand out.

Pricing strategy depends on your goals. You have to examine each home and neighborhood carefully, because that's where pricing strategy comes in, and you also have to understand what matters to the seller. If someone needs to sell quickly because they've already bought their next home, the strategy looks different from what it does for a seller with all the time in the world.

"Buyers don't just buy a house. They buy the story, and whether they can picture themselves living there."

Price competitively in a strong neighborhood, and you can sometimes generate more than one offer, which is a strategy that works. Some sellers prefer to price a little higher with room to come down, the retail approach, and in a hot neighborhood, a below-market price can bring multiple offers. The right move depends entirely on your situation.

Why Flagstaff holds its value. I'm biased, but Flagstaff is a wonderful place to buy. We draw a real mix of people: permanent residents, professionals, doctors, and a strong second-home crowd, with entire communities geared toward second-home buyers and steady relocation from California, Colorado, and beyond. 

Even in the 2008 downturn, we didn't suffer the way many areas did, and we rebounded much faster. In my experience, college towns like ours tend to be steadier bets through economic cycles than non-college markets. Add the Grand Canyon, the lakes, the trails, the restaurants, and an easy pace with none of the Phoenix traffic, and it's easy to see why people keep coming back, often after going to school here.

Timing your sale to the season. When you list matters too. List in the off-season, and the buyers who are looking tend to be serious, with less competition on the market. For a home in a popular neighborhood, late spring is often ideal, because that's when things get busy here. I always tell people you can measure our market by how hot it is in Phoenix, since people come up in droves to escape the heat, while permanent buyers tend to purchase in late fall and winter.

One more thing worth knowing: today's buyers do their research before they ever call. With the tools available now, they already know pricing and the best neighborhoods, so overpricing rarely works the way sellers hope. If a home is priced too high, buyers know it at a glance. It's a different world, and pricing to it from day one is part of winning those first 10 days.

If you're thinking about selling and want those opening days working in your favor, I'd love to help. Call or text me at (928) 606-6749, email me at Kelly.Broaddus@exprealty.com, or visit kellybroaddus.exprealty.com.

I'd be glad to walk you through a plan built around your home and your timeline.