The first 30 days of a property listing

The first weeks of a listing are the most valuable — and not only because that is when the chance of selling is highest. They are the weeks that tell you the most.

Why the first month is different

When a property goes on the market, everybody already searching that area and budget sees it at once: people who have been looking for weeks or months and know exactly what is out there. After that first wave, you are left with the trickle of buyers just starting their search.

That is why the response in the first month is the best thermometer there is, and why listing high "to see what happens" wastes precisely the moment of greatest exposure.

What to measure

Three things, week by week:

Enquiries. How many people ask. Viewings. How many of those enquiries turn into someone walking through the property. Comments. What the people who came said — the good and the bad.

How to read it

Few enquiries. The clearest signal, and almost always about price. If the property is well presented and hardly anyone asks, the number is outside what the market is willing to even look at.

Many enquiries, few viewings. Usually the listing or the logistics: missing information, photos promising something different, or viewings that are hard to arrange.

Many viewings, no offers. The market is saying something more specific: condition, layout, building charges, noise, light. The repeated objections are the most valuable information you will get — when three different people mention the same thing, that is data, not opinion.

What to adjust, and in what order

1. The listing. Photos, order, light, description, square metres, floor plan, building charges. The cheapest thing to fix.
2. How viewings work. More flexible times, faster replies, grouped visits.
3. Something concrete about the property. If an objection repeats and can be fixed, a small repair sometimes changes the conversation.
4. The price. Last — but when it is warranted, do it early and once. Small, repeated reductions tell the market it can keep waiting.

What not to do

Wait three months without changing anything, hoping someone turns up. The market already answered in the first weeks; everything after that is asking the same question again.

How we work

The owner gets a weekly report with those three numbers and the actual comments from people who visited. At the end of the first month we do a full review and, if something needs correcting, we name it: the photo, the timing, the detail or the price.