Making the Most of The First 4-8

Most buyers take between 4 and 8 weeks to build confidence and collect information about the market before making their first offer.
This process involves:

Time by Jessica Flavin

• Clarifying their own needs in a home
• Determining and weighing their financial limits
• Educating themselves on market pricing for various neighbourhoods
• Educating themselves as to the costs and benefits of various home features (e.g. renovations, amenities, appliances)
• Obtaining local knowledge of their chosen neighbourhood

By the end of this process most buyers know how much they can afford, where they want to live, what they must have in a home and what they can live without. By the time a typical buyer is ready to make an offer, they will have already seen all of the existing properties for sale in your neighbourhood. Since they’ve been monitoring your neighbourhood and have a good idea of the housing inventory and prices there, they are waiting to see only the new listings as they come up for sale. Everything else is old news. That’s why the first few weeks after listing are the most critical: the number of prepared buyers who will see your home will be at its peak.