Thoughts on Virtual Tours for MLS "Coming Soon" before "Formally Listed"?13543

Originally Posted by @dave3d
Also on the listings side.....

One other change I've heard lately (agents can confirm) is in some areas MLS is allowing the category "coming soon" to show properties before they are "formally listed". This might provide a very short window of opportunity for getting a tour approved. (I think about a week). As I understand it, when using coming soon, only agents can see the property - not the world at large. I don't think this counts against time on market in the listing's history. If you do tours and are an agent (or know one) is this a "short time to close" chance to sell your services?

Originally Posted by @Dataventurer
I am a real estate agent in Northern California. Yes, there is a "Coming Soon" category on our local MLS where agents can post a property before it is Active. It is not accessible unless you are a member of the local MLS (and paying the due$). This is so all agents in the area have an opportunity to work on finding a Buyer even before the property is active.

There are also provisions for an agent within a brokerage firm to announce a listing only to other agents within their brokerage. This kind of listing, called a "pocket listing", does not show up on the MLS.

The length of time that a property can be on the Coming Soon is usually longer than a week. Sometimes a property is put on the Coming Soon list, the upgrades and repairs take more than a month, and the Coming Soon status is renewed.

In the case where you are a media provider and not an agent, I would suggest finding an agent from whom you could obtain a weekly list of the Coming Soons. This is a core target market for media services and worth working to find a way to get visibility into the upcoming property listings.

Disclaimer: I am a fairly new agent (less than a year). There are many MLS associations across our great country. They may have different ways of handling upcoming property listings.