I’m always amazed when I log on to MLS on the weekend and see “New Listings.”

If your agent is listing your property for sale on a weekend, then he or she has absolutely no strategy, and no understanding of this thing called “marketing”…

Not every idea I have should be taken as God’s word; just most of them.

But this is an opinion that I will not back down on, and I would love to hear from any of the fifty-or-so Realtors who listed properties for sale on Saturday or Sunday of this past weekend.

Good Lord, where do I even start?

Most industries are cyclical to some degree.  There’s a reason that baseball is played from April to September; it’s cold in the other months.

There’s a reason that so many people take vacations in December; they have time off.

Florists are busy in May and June because that’s when a large percentages of weddings happen.

Accountants are busy in March and April because income tax returns are due on April 30th.

Do you see what I’m getting at?

Sometimes the industry gets busy because of the people who work within it, and sometimes it’s because of those purchasing its goods and/or services.

Sometimes it’s external factors such as weather, or perhaps when people get paid.

Real estate is no different, and we have busier and slower times of the year.

March is often slow because of the various Spring Breaks throughout the month (public/private/other school boards), and that’s followed by Easter and Passover.

July & August can be very slow for residential listings because many home-owners are vacationing with their families, and don’t want to be selling their primary residences.

But the yearly breakdown of the real estate calendar can also be applied to the week itself, and that’s why I’m amazed when a Realtor brings out a new listing on a Saturday or Sunday.

I think that the day you list a property for sale is just as important as the day you review offers.

I’ve always felt that Monday is too busy a day, as many brokerages have office meetings, and most agents are playing catch-up from the weekend by following up on showings, submitting paperwork for completed deals.

I also feel that Friday is a very slow day, and not the kind of “slow day” that will help bring attention to your new listing.  Lots of agents waste time during the week by taking two-hour lunches and going for massages, but Friday is notorious for playing hookey.  When the warm weather hits Toronto, “Friday” is “Golf Day” in our industry.

So that leaves three days of the week when I like to list properties for sale: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

I’m not saying you can’t list on Monday or Friday; I just don’t think it’s going to be seen by as many people.

Consider that every Realtor logs in to MLS and sees updates for their own pre-determined districts.  Personally, I check several dozen times per day – basically any time I’m on the MLS home page, and always once at 11:30pm before the system resets.

So if Realtors are very busy on Monday, or aren’t working on Friday, then there’s a good chance they’ll miss your NEW LISTING when it hits the market.

This, of course, brings me to the point of this essay: who the hell lists on a weekend?

Here is a screen-shot of my MLS home page at 9:59pm on Sunday night:

As you can see, there was ONE listing in the east end, ONE listing in midtown, TWO listings in the west end, and eight morons who listed downtown.

I don’t understand.

Why in God’s name would any Realtor list a property on a Saturday or a Sunday when they know (or should know) that many, if not most Toronto Realtors aren’t going to see it?

I always tout “timing” as one of the five facets of my listing process.  I think it’s important to time the listing not only within the calendar year and during peak times, but also during the month of interest when there’s little else competing on the market.  When you break this down even further – to the week, I think it makes sense to list on a day when the most number of Realtors will see the listing.

So why would anybody list on a weekend?

The answer, unfortunately, is laziness.

But before we blame the Realtors, let’s throw some of the blame on the sellers themselves.

When I go for listing interviews, many sellers will ask me, “What’s your listing process in terms of timing?”  This leads right into the explanation that I’ve laid out above.  Some sellers will actually ask me, “What’s your favorite day to list a property?”  These guys are clearly thinking along the same lines as I am.

So if you’re a seller, and you don’t think that the day on which you list matters at all, then you might not have a very good understanding of the real estate market.  But I’m not blaming you for that; after all, this is why you’re hiring an expert!

But I am blaming you for not taking issue when your Realtor says, “I’ll probably list the property in the next couple of days.”  That clearly shows that the agent has no strategy in place.

I list a property on a Tuesday, have “Just Listed” cards hit mailboxes by Thursday or Friday that advertise the Open House that Saturday & Sunday.  It’s all part of a process, especially when you’re holding back offers and reviewing them the following Wednesday.  Nothing is by accident, and everything is timed perfectly.  One hiccup in the process can throw everything out of whack.

So when your Realtor says, “I’m not sure when it’s going onto MLS – but I’ll let you know,” you should be questioning exactly what his plan is for the property.

The problem, of course, is that many of the properties that are listed on Saturday and Sunday are the classic “Photo Not Available” condos that have no room measurements or descriptions, and are listed by everybody’s favorite 905-Realtor.  I suppose that when the listing is that bad, and the Realtor is likely being paid next to nothing, maybe listing on a Saturday isn’t your biggest issue…

I can honestly say that very rarely do I see a “prime” property listed on a Saturday or Sunday; usually it’s those awful properties we don’t care about, that have terrible listings, and don’t motivate buyer-agents and/or their clients.

But once in a while, a prime property does get listed on a weekend, and I wonder how many Realtors are going to miss the listing.  So far this year, I’ve seen properties in prime areas of Bloor West Village, Leslieville, and Leaside, among others, all listed on a Saturday or Sunday.  Unless you have no life, like me, and you check MLS on Saturday night at 11:30pm after a relaxing bubble-bath with a glass of Zinfandel, then chances are – you’re going to miss that listing!

I can’t stop listing agents from making tragic mistakes, but I can advise sellers out there to ask the right questions when choosing a Realtor.

And if you’re looking for a loaded question, or to set up that Realtor you’re interviewing, simply ask, “Do you think it matters which day of the week you list on?”  If the Realtor doesn’t immediately say, “Oh for sure,” then I fear they’re inexperienced, and perhaps a little lazy.

It takes all kinds, right?