I have noticed that many times in today’s market that a home is listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), but the property cannot be shown until after the first brokers open house or cannot be shown until a week from the date the listing was submitted. The reason for this delay is often due to fact that the owner needs time to prepare the house for sale. I urge all home sellers to be ready to show their homes on the date they are listed. The way our MLS works is that agents with buyers for a house like yours enter their search parameters into the MLS and the buyer may be put on an automatic e-mailing system; when a house that matches a buyer’s criteria is listed on the MLS, he will be automatically notified, many times immediately after the listing was entered. In today’s market there is a shortage of homes on the market in the Palos Verdes area and in the other South Bay cities. Buyers who are looking for a home like yours are anxious to see it when it comes on the market. Being told they must wait “takes the wind out of their sails”.
I recommend being totally prepared to show your home the minute it is put on the market. There are possibly a number of prospects waiting and I believe your chances of getting top dollar for your home may be better shown to those motivated buyers than waiting to show until after brokers, who may not have buyers for your home, are allowed to stream through it. If you list your home a week or so before you are ready to show it, the wording, “Will not be listed in the Multiple Listing Service until…” can be added into the listing contract and a waiver filed with our local association of Realtors.
