Or a Saturday, or a holiday Monday, for that matter?

I’ve never understood the thought process of a seller or a listing agent who brings a new listing onto the market when nobody is watching.

Shouldn’t this be the first rule of real estate marketing?

Believe it or not, I actually took a day off this weekend.

I think it’s the first day off I’ve taken since New Years, but I’m not complaining.  I’d probably work eight days per week if I could find a way.

I went up to a friend’s family home in Horseshoe Valley, golfed in the rain, played shuffleboard, and sneezed a LOT from all the ragweed.  It was kind of nice to not have my Blackberry glued to my hip for once, although it’s not like I had a lot of say in the matter.  My girlfriend took my Blackberry as soon as we got up north, turned it off, and put it in her purse.  It’s really embarassing to have to ask to use your own Blackberry…

However, early on Sunday morning when nobody was awake, I logged on to my buddy’s computer to check MLS.

Of course, it took me about an hour to figure out how, since he has four computers in the house – all Mac’s.

I don’t understand “Mac People,” but that’s a topic for another day.

Once I had downloaded Opera, the only browser compatible with TorontoMLS, I was online looking up comparable sales for a client who wanted to make an offer on a property down on The Esplanade.

I logged on to the MLS home page, and I was astounded to see that there were ten new listings for properties in the downtown core!

I know that some of these are “auto-loads” for listings that have expired and been reloaded, but some of them aren’t.

And it got me thinking: WHO LISTS A PROPERTY ON THE SUNDAY OF A LONG WEEKEND?

But you know what?  This happens every Saturday and Sunday of every week, all year long.

If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?

So why would anybody list a property for sale when nobody is online checking out new listings?

Let’s say a condo is listed on Victoria Day Monday, and there are no Realtors around to browse new listings.  That property will be found by doing a search on Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.  But is that enough?  In this busy Toronto market, is it enough to just leave the properties for Realtors to find in searches?

No.  It’s not.

In fact, I think one of the best tools available for showing off new listings to Realtors is the “Hot Sheets,” or basically what we see when we log onto MLS every day.

“Today’s Listings” is the electronic version of the “Hot Sheets” that Realtors used to thumb through in the 80’s before the Internet, and I probably check Today’s Listings twenty times each and every day.  I check it periodically all day long, and then once at about 11:45PM before it resets at midnight.  Any new listing on that day will find its way past my eyes, although I can scroll through the 120 new listings in C01 and C08 without even catching a glimpse of Navy Wharf, Fort York Blvd, and the dozen daily listings at IceBoat Terrace.  It’s a acquired skill…

As I write this blog post, on Monday night at about 9:30PM, there are fourteen new listings in C01 & C08 – all of which likely won’t be seen by about 80% of Realtors.  Is that fair?  Can we assume that only one of five Realtors is checking MLS on Victoria Day?

So the rhetorical question is: why would any Realtor choose to list a property on a day when nobody is paying attention?

I can’t figure out why there are ANY new listings on a Saturday or Sunday, ever!  Forget about long weekends – why list on a day when many Realtors are on the golf course or spending time with their kids?

Monday to Friday – that’s the ticket.

And even within that timeline, I still take issue.

Personally, I list all my properties on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, with Tuesday being the most common target.

I find that Monday is a very busy day in real estate, and Friday is slow.

Monday is when most companies have their “weekly meeting,” and once the bagels are consumed and the sales & listings are read out, you’ve likely consumed two hours of the day.  The fraternizing follows, and when all is said and done, I don’t think Monday is a very productive day for real estate.

Friday is less productive, since many Realtors feel that Friday is an extension of Saturday and Sunday.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say that many Realtors routinely work four-day weeks, and not just in the summer.  Friday is often a day to play golf, get a mani/pedi, or just drink on a patio with your colleagues and complain about how hard your life is.

So when it comes to my new listings, I ensure that most Realtors are going to see them on “Today’s Listings,” and that means listing on Tues/Wed/Thurs.

I choose Tuesday since it gives Realtors a head start to prep their clients for weekend viewings, or to give them 3-4 nights that week when they can book appointments.

Having boiled this down to an exact science, I still don’t understand the thought process behind listing on a Saturday or Sunday.

Is it laziness?  Maybe.  But why not just wait two more days until a weekday?  Put a sticky-note on the paperwork for your administrator that says “Please load on Monday.”

Is it lack of foresight?  Maybe.  In fact, I think that’s the only viable reason.

“That isn’t how to sell real estate,” is my new catch-phrase, seeing as there are dozens of daily examples of how not to do things to maximize the value of property.  I was in a condo today where the sellers didn’t feel the need to remove the drywall plugs in the wall (from an old photo), patch up the holes, and paint over them.  They just couldn’t be bothered!  But that’s not how to sell real estate.

Hiring a Realtor who doesn’t put ANY photos of the property, and who just leaves that “Photo Not Available” logo on MLS?!?!  That’s not how to sell real estate.

There are countless examples of how not to sell real estate, and I believe that listing a property on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday Monday is as good an example as any.

I think there are the Realtors who don’t know, and then there are the Realtors who don’t care.  But either way – that’s not how to sell real estate.

There were likely 100+ properties listed for sale in Central TREB over the long weekend, and most Realtors won’t see any of them.

So if you’re a seller and you’re interviewing Realtors, here is a new question to ask: “What day do you normally bring out new listings?  What would you recommend we aim for?”  If the Realtor doesn’t have an answer right away, I think that might be a cause for concern.

Although, it seems many sellers don’t care either.

Why else would they hire somebody who thinks that “Photo Not Available” is a good way to market the property?