Ideally, a home should receive an offer within the first 30 to 60 days of being on the market. If the home is on the market for more than 60 days with no offers, the seller and realtor should review a number of things to determine why no offers have been received. Add 30 to 45 days of escrow to see approximately how long it takes to close the sale. The escrow period varies depending on the sale.
Once an offer is accepted, home sales typically require an additional closing period of 30 to 45 days before they are officially sold. Most of the time, when a home stays on the market for too long it's because it has a serious problem that needs to be addressed, such as inflated prices or necessary upgrades. Because buyers are looking for new listings in MLS in the hope of getting a great property in a market with limited inventory, your home may require fewer visits or that visits may take place over a weekend or just a few days. If you choose to keep your home for sale, you'll have to decide if you want to stay with the same agent or select a new one.
If you want to sell quickly, Carroll suggests responding to any requests for open days, exhibitions, inspections and appraisals. Generally, the buyer has 5 to 10 days after accepting the offer to complete the inspection of their home. In this book, author and investor David Greene shares the exact systems he used to expand his real estate business, going from buying two houses a year to buying two houses a month using BRRRR. If you want detailed information about your specific area, visit Zillow Research Data and search for the “Pending Days” dataset for your area in the “Inventory and Sales” menu.
While the current rules regarding response times vary from state to state and from contract to contract, buyers who submit the offer usually include an expiration date 24, 48, or 72 hours after submission. Depending on market conditions at the time of purchase, homeowners may find themselves “upside down” on their mortgage loan, owing more than their home is worth. Buyers are wary of homes that have been on the market for a long time, especially those that remain pending and then return to the active market. When there is a large supply of homes for sale and there are fewer buyers, homes tend to take longer to sell, as buyers can be more selective and are not pressured to make quick offers.
Top real estate agents, such as Greene, understand the role that staging plays in helping to reduce the number of days a home spends on the market, as it makes it easier for prospective buyers to see their home as their future home and show off its best qualities.
