(Too High?) Noise-to-Signal Ratio: the Downside of Pre-List Networking (at Least for Buyers’ Agents)

Two Minutes vs. Two Hours to Set Up Showings

Here’s how a Buyer’s agent — at least in the Twin Cities — gets their client into an MLS-listed home:

step #1:  logon to MLS.
step #2:  enter the home’s address to find listing, then . . . .
step #3:  use online form to request showing (typically one hour window) later that day.
step #4:  receive confirmation & access instructions via email (usually within the hour).
step #5:  meet client at home, gain access via lockbox.

Elapsed time:  < 2 minutes.

Longer Lead Time; “Chaperoned Showings”

Now, compare that to what can be involved getting the same client into a home, pre-list:

step #1a:  scan Pre-list database for ideas; contact listing agent for more info.
step #1b:  circulate “Buyer Need” email with Buyer’s search criteria (price range, preferred area(s), home size and features, etc.).
step #2:  qualify/screen responses (note:  pre-listed homes usually have minimal stats and pix until closer to hitting the market).  If home seems to check out . . .
steps #3, #4, #5, #6, #7:  trade multiple emails and texts with listing agent to determine when (if?) it’s convenient the next 7-10 days for Seller — who’s now juggling home cleaners, handymen, etc. — to OK showing.
step #8:  Because there’s usually no lockbox on the home yet, arrange to meet the Buyer and listing agent at the house at a specific time (vs. one hour window — which makes coordinating consecutive showings more difficult).

Elapsed time:  >2 hours(??).

Pre-List Price as Trial Balloon

Even these (very) discrepant lists understate the difference between showing a pre-listed home, and one that’s already on the market.

That’s because pre-listed homes are often still awaiting staging, repairs, and even basic de-cluttering/clean-up; and have yet to address either the Minnesota-required Seller Disclosure and — if applicable — the local municipality’s point-of-sale inspection.

Oh!  And because Twin Cities homeowners are (more than) wise to the scarcity of inventory in today’s super-tight housing market, at least some are floating pre-list asking prices that can charitably be described only as “trial balloons.”

Bottom line?

Good Buyers’ agents do all of the above, because it’s part of their job description.

But, it does mean going the extra mile for clients, often literally . . .

See also, “Agent-to-Agent Pre-List Networking:  Can You Spot the Most Important Detail?“

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