Coming Soon signs have become a popular pre-selling strategy in this tight housing market. They create a lot of interest for homes that are not ready to show, yet.

Coming Soon signs create a buying frenzy. Often we see that “coming soon” listings go in contract within a day after appearing on the MLS, effectively making them pocket listings. This is very frustrating for buyers, as your agent did not even have a chance to show you the inside of the home.

Major Source of Complaints

Coming Soon signs resulted in the largest number of complaints the Ohio Division of Real Estate had to deal with in the past 2 years.

Complaints are directed against agents who seem to sell “coming soon” listings before they actually hits the market. Many buyers have a hard time finding a home in this low-inventory market, and believe that they are denied access under the fair housing laws.

Endorsed by Columbus Realtors

The Columbus MLS has now officially endorsed Coming Soon marketing by introducing a Showing Start Date with its listings. If a listing agreement has been signed, your house can be listed on the MLS and marketed before it is ready to show.

Coming Soon marketing has many benefits for Sellers. But there are also risks you should be aware of.

Here are the pros and cons of Coming Soon Marketing:

Benefits of Coming Soon

  • It gives the seller an opportunity to get the house ready for showings, e.g. install new carpet or get the home painted.
  • It extends the time your property is listed on the MLS. So you can generate extra buzz for your home before showing it to potential buyers.
  • If done correctly, coming soon listings may attract more buyers to your listing.

The Risks of Coming Soon

  • Coming soon marketing may lead to fair housing violations, if the listing agent tries to find a buyer for himself to get both sides of the transaction.
  • It may limit the number of qualified buyers seeing the home.

Call me at (614) 975-9650 to find out how to correctly use Coming Soon Marketing to get the most money in the shortest time, when you sell your home.