Why Does the First Week on the Market Matter So Much?

The first week is when your home gets the most attention it will ever get. Every agent watching your neighborhood and every buyer with a saved search sees it right away, so the price, the photos, and the house need to be ready before the listing goes live.

I am Delia Bayna, a REALTOR with eXp Realty in Salt Lake City, Utah. I build my whole listing plan around the first week on the market, and here is why.

When a home goes live on the MLS, the shared database agents use to list homes, it reaches buyers fast. The listing feeds out to sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. Buyers who saved a search for your neighborhood, price, and size get a notice within hours. Agents with buyers waiting for a house like yours see it the same day.

Many of those buyers have been looking for a while. They know which homes went under contract and which are still sitting. A new listing is what they have been waiting for, so they look at it closely.

After the first week or two, the buyers who were already waiting have seen your home. They either came to see it or decided to pass. New buyers still come along, but there are fewer of them at any one time.

Buyers also notice how long a home has been listed. A house that has been on the market a while makes them wonder what other buyers saw. Sometimes the answer is nothing at all, but the question is still there.

A home only gets one first week. A weak photo or a price that is a little too high in week one does not get a second first impression.

Because the first week counts so much, everything else happens before it, not alongside it.

• The price. It is set from recent sales near you before you list. I explain how in how I decide what to list a home for.
• The photos and video. Every listing I take gets professional photography and video, and the house needs to be ready first. Here is how to get ready for listing photos.
• The house itself. Small repairs done, rooms cleared, and the yard tidy, so the house looks the same in person as it does online.
• Your routine. A plan for leaving during showings, for pets, and for keeping the house picked up while you live there.

I would rather go live a week later with everything ready than go live early with something missing.

Once the listing is live, the marketing runs at the same time. The MLS sends it to the big home search sites. Targeted social media ads put it in front of the kind of buyer your neighborhood draws. Open houses are timed to that first window, when interest is highest.

Expect more showing requests early than later. Plan for a busy first week, with the house picked up every morning before you leave.

In Salt Lake City in late fall, the first week also comes with early sunsets. Leave the porch light and a few lamps on for evening showings, and keep the front steps clear of leaves, or of snow once it comes.

Every Friday, I call and email every seller with where things stand, whether there is news or not. The Friday calls do not stop after the first week. If the first week brings showings but no offers, we look at why together. If it brings an offer, we look at that together too.

I taught school for eighteen years, and I learned that people stay calmer when they know what to expect. A seller who knows the first week will be busy, and why, does not panic when week three is quieter.

See how the first week fits into the rest of my plan on how I sell a home, or read more about selling a home in Salt Lake City. If you are moving to something smaller, my downsizing page covers how the sale and the next home fit together.

Why is the first week on the market so important?

It is when a listing gets the most attention, from buyers with saved searches and agents with buyers waiting. The price, the photos, and the house need to be ready before day one.

What happens if my house does not sell in the first week?

Not every home sells in the first week. We look at the showings and any feedback, and decide together whether anything should change.

Should I list my house before it is fully ready?

Usually not. A home only gets one first week, so I would rather list a little later with everything ready.

When should open houses happen?

I time open houses to the first window after a listing goes live, when interest is highest.