Whats with all of the "Coming Soon" house signs

is it a way to avoid a house being listed and sitting on the market ? Is it in such disrepair its not ready to sell? Is it only available to be shown to select clientele? Seems some have the sign up for weeks

The ones I've seen seem to precede the open houses by about a week. When my house was listed, there was no "coming soon" sign, though (the "for sale" sign went up 2 days after the listing started -- I think they ran out of them!)

Last year (in Connecticut) I got a flyer in the mail for a house that would not be put on the market for another several months. I think it's to start building hype when there is enough work being done inside that it isn't ready to be listed right away. The house I'm talking about is still for sale, though... and at a very high price by CT standards.

Bottom line: Just another marketing technique.

My neighbor had it up because the house was for sale, but they didn't want realtors showing anyone for a few days because they were still staging it

The only coming soon sign I have seen in my neighborhood was in the front yard of a house being flipped while construction was going on within the structure.

The house in CT I was talking about above is not only still on the market, it's been on for 75 days and is still at the same asking price it started at. What makes it really interesting to me is it used to be a bed-and-breakfast, and my husband, my mother and I all stayed there when we came up to CT for my brother's wedding 10 years ago. They did a massive renovation of it to remove the en-suite bathrooms, which were a real oddball arrangement, and restore a lot of the living spaces. Unfortunately, they made some incredibly strange and modern decisions in the decor for the kitchen and family room, and they are an abomination in an antique house. It's on the historic register, for heaven's sake! I wonder how long it will continue to sit on the market with no movement.

mumstheword said:
The ones I've seen seem to precede the open houses by about a week. When my house was listed, there was no "coming soon" sign, though (the "for sale" sign went up 2 days after the listing started -- I think they ran out of them!)

This.

It's a seller's market. Many homes get multiple offers. There are good buyers out there. This is a way to advertise.

Robert_Casotto said:
My favorite are the For Sale signs right next to the Congratulations to my CHS Graduate sign. says it all.

We've noted that.

In was told by someone that the coming soon signs were against some regulations (the industry?).

as was i which triggered my question -why do some realtors do it while other claim it isnt within regulations

I have had a series of bad guidance from realtors and would have loved to do a coming soon to test the market vs the agony of inaccurate market analysis

I'm not sure what regulation could possibly prohibit that... if the owners are okay with it, and it's their lawn, what's the problem with it?

I think it is used primarily to create "hype" around a house (especially as was noted if the house is undergoing some renovations and isn't quite ready for pictures/open houses yet). I also think that you find a big difference in attitude from real estate agents about whether hype is a good thing or bad thing. Some view it as a positive and a way to generate a "frenzy" so to speak, bidding wars etc. and others dont believe in that way of doing real estate transactions. So, you have those who use it as a tactic and those who are opposed to the idea in principle

Depending on the municipality, there could be a local ordinance prohibiting coming soon realtor's signs.

--- maybe bragging about sexual prowess

But why? If the owners are fine with it and it's on their lawn, what difference does it make??? Aren't people allowed to have signs saying whatever they like on their property? And how does this differ from, say, the signs from contractors advertising their services on a property where they are doing work?? Or the way realtors leave their signs up after the house is under contract or has even closed?

So what if I see one of these signs, knock on the door and make an offer? If the Seller accepts does the broker still get a commission?

LOST said:
So what if I see one of these signs, knock on the door and make an offer? If the Seller accepts does the broker still get a commission?

If I recall when I signed the agreement with our broker to list our house we agreed that once we hired her to sell our house, she would collect her commission regardless if someone showed up out of nowhere with a suitcase of cash and an empty moving truck for our belongings, along with a crew of championship Swedish house packers in bikinis.

Yes. That exact language was in the agreement.

The sign implies that the house is not yet on the MLS, but that doesn't mean the realtor didn't draw up a contract with the soon-to-be-sellers. And once there is a contract, any buyer means the realtor gets a commission, no matter how they heard about the house.

mrincredible said:

LOST said:
So what if I see one of these signs, knock on the door and make an offer? If the Seller accepts does the broker still get a commission?

If I recall when I signed the agreement with our broker to list our house we agreed that once we hired her to sell our house, she would collect her commission regardless if someone showed up out of nowhere with a suitcase of cash and an empty moving truck for our belongings, along with a crew of championship Swedish house packers in bikinis.
Yes. That exact language was in the agreement.

OMG this is hilarious. I have been to Real Estate School but I am not an agent, I am an investor, so I know that there are different types of listing agreements. You can chose to enter the type that gives the agent a pass and collect commissions regardless of who sells the house or you can go into an OPEN LISTING- This is were the listing broker only receives commissions if he/she sells the property. If the seller sells the property on there own, seller is not obliged to pay broker commission.

I'm curious how many listings are open listings.

mrincredible said:
I'm curious how many listings are open listings.

Exactly. LOL