5 p.m. Friday

Positioning a New Listing

Five p.m. Friday, especially in the Summer, has very different meanings for the housing market, and the business world generally.

Big companies that have to announce an unexpectedly big loss or other bad news wait till 5 p.m. Friday, because they figure that that's when the fewest people are paying attention. (Dubious? Watch today at 5:01 p.m.) Lately, that's also been when the FDIC has chosen to announce that it is taking over a(nother) failed bank.

By contrast, in the housing market interest tends to be highest on Friday. That's when prospective Buyers screen for homes they want to see that weekend. So if you want exposure for a new listing, that's a good time to shoot for, especially to publicize any open houses.

In truth, Friday is really only the second best time to hit the market. In my opinion, the best is Monday, ahead of the Broker Tour on Tuesday. I've sold five times as many homes as a result of exposure on Broker Tour, vs. as a result of holding a Sun. open.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, new listings come on the market pretty much continuously during the course of the work week (Monday-Friday). Someone really looking for what you have will find you, regardless.

However, lots of people on the market don't have a crystallized notion of what they want yet -- or where. Positioning a listing to catch the eye of people like that is what real estate sales is all about . . .