Why the First 72 Hours Can Make or Break Your Home Sale

🏡 Episode Summary

Timing isn’t everything in real estate—but when it comes to listing your home, the first 72 hours might be the most important window you have.

In this episode of Off the Record, Joe and Makayla break down why your home’s launch strategy can directly impact your final sale price, time on market, and negotiating power. From preparation and pricing to timing your listing for maximum exposure, they walk through what actually happens behind the scenes when a home goes live—and why it matters more than most sellers realize.

If you’re thinking about selling in today’s Portland real estate market, this episode gives you a clear, practical strategy to avoid costly mistakes and position your home for the strongest possible outcome.

⏱️ Episode Highlights

[00:01:12] – Portland’s Luxury Market Is Surging While Others Stall
Joe shares surprising trends in the Portland real estate market, where $2M+ homes are outperforming lower price points despite interest rate pressure.

[00:06:29] – Why the First 72 Hours Matter More Than Ever
Makayla explains how the first weekend isn’t just about showings—it’s when your home competes at its highest level and gets the most exposure.

[00:09:21] – How Buyer Behavior Has Changed (And Why Timing Matters)
Today’s buyers are waiting for the “perfect home” and get instant alerts—meaning your listing needs to capture attention immediately.

[00:10:35] – The Ideal Listing Timeline for Maximum Exposure
Why launching midweek (Wednesday or Thursday) creates the best opportunity for weekend traffic, urgency, and multiple offers.

[00:13:52] – What Agents Watch Behind the Scenes After You Go Live
From online views and saves to showing requests and agent feedback, Joe breaks down the key signals that determine if your pricing and strategy are working.

[00:14:37] – A Real Example of What Happens When Timing Misses
A beautifully prepared home struggled to gain traction simply due to holiday timing—showing how even great listings can lose momentum.

[00:16:47] – The Biggest Pricing Mistake Sellers Make
Why “testing the market” often backfires—and how overpricing early can lead to price reductions and weaker final offers.

[00:27:15] – What Happens When a Listing Goes Stale
Once a home sits too long, buyers start questioning it—leading to price drops and reduced negotiating power.

👥 Hosts

Joe Reitzug and Makayla Mast are Portland-based real estate professionals with LivPortland, bringing decades of combined experience helping buyers and sellers navigate the market with clarity and confidence. Known for their straightforward advice and data-driven strategies, they focus on giving clients honest guidance to make smarter real estate decisions.

Thinking about selling your home?

Visit LivPortland.com to learn more, explore current listings, and connect with the team. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe to Off the Record so you never miss practical insights on the Portland real estate market.

Thank you for listening to this episode. Stay up to date on the latest trends and insights by subscribing to our podcast and following us on social media.

For more information about buying or selling in the Portland Metro real estate market, please visit www.LivPortland.com or contact us directly.

We appreciate your feedback, so please leave a review and let us know what topics you would like to hear more about.

Transcript

00:00:08:18 - 00:00:31:15
Joe Reitzug
Welcome to Off the Record talking real estate with Joe and Makayla. If you're interested in the Portland, Oregon real estate market and want the unvarnished inside scoop, you've come to the right place. Thanks for giving us a listen. Okay. Welcome, everyone. Thanks for joining the show. This is off the record with Joe Reitzug and Makayla Mast. Hi, Makayla.

00:00:31:15 - 00:00:32:03
Joe Reitzug
How are you?

00:00:32:04 - 00:00:36:12
Makayla Mast
Hello. I'm doing well. Another day in the studio. Happy to be here. The other.

00:00:36:12 - 00:00:38:22
Joe Reitzug
Day. I know this is wonderful.

00:00:39:00 - 00:00:47:06
Makayla Mast
Seems like sometimes we'll do. We try to shoot for the end of the week. But last week we did Friday and today's Wednesday, so it feels like we were just here. But I was like.

00:00:47:06 - 00:00:47:16
Joe Reitzug
We were just.

00:00:47:16 - 00:00:49:04
Makayla Mast
Here. It's how it works sometimes.

00:00:49:04 - 00:00:53:21
Joe Reitzug
But I'm going to be out of the office later this week, so we had to move it up a little bit.

00:00:54:00 - 00:00:54:20
Makayla Mast
Yeah that's okay.

00:00:54:20 - 00:01:12:15
Joe Reitzug
So we've got a great show for you today. This one's titled why the first 72 Hours Can Make or Break Your Home Sale. And I love this topic. This is my cannabis topic. I think it's great. And I think it's something that not a lot of people know or really understand how important it is.

00:01:12:18 - 00:01:36:00
Makayla Mast
Yeah, listing prep is super important to us, and it should be to you if you're thinking about selling your home. This felt relevant for the spring season with some new fun listings we're working on. So yeah, thought it'd be fun to chat over. First, we should start with our off the record moment.

00:01:36:02 - 00:01:50:09
Joe Reitzug
Yes, and this is a something that's bothering us or something that is just interesting that's going on. And it doesn't necessarily have to be real estate oriented, but mine is real estate oriented.

00:01:50:10 - 00:01:51:09
Makayla Mast
Oh, okay.

00:01:51:10 - 00:02:19:14
Joe Reitzug
I am super just curious and interested and just kind of blown away by our high end market in Portland is just going nuts. I mean, everything 750 and below is a struggle because everyone's so interest rate sensitive and rates are down to six, six and a quarter, 750 and under, super difficult 750 to about 1.21.3. Yeah.

00:02:19:16 - 00:02:20:11
Makayla Mast
You know. Yeah.

00:02:20:11 - 00:02:47:03
Joe Reitzug
Pretty average pretty average 1.3 to 2 million doing very well. But here's the crazy part 2 million and above absolutely bonkers. Absolutely. More sales in the $2 million plus segment in Portland metro than we've seen ever. Maybe. I mean, I'd have to go back further than 4 to 5 years to see this type of activity.

00:02:47:04 - 00:02:50:21
Makayla Mast
I would guess that it's ever because the sales are crazy. Yeah.

00:02:50:21 - 00:03:11:22
Joe Reitzug
So that's what I'm finding interesting. And, you know, I think a lot of high net worth individuals are looking at things right now thinking, okay, this might be the bottom. This is the time for us to upgrade where we're at. You're seeing a ton of homes between one three and one eight go on the market and then those people are flipping into 2 to 2.5.

00:03:11:23 - 00:03:20:23
Joe Reitzug
It's pretty crazy right now considering where our markets at, where our economy is at and where money in general is falling. So I just thought I'd point that out.

00:03:20:23 - 00:03:26:23
Makayla Mast
Yeah. Super interesting. It's fun to look at the listings right now in that area, because there's so much to look at.

00:03:27:01 - 00:03:43:10
Joe Reitzug
There's so much to look at, but they're going fast. The really good ones are going fast. So yeah, if you've got a $2 million plus home that you're thinking about selling, now might be the time because low inventory and lots of buyers in that price segment. So give us a call.

00:03:43:12 - 00:03:55:08
Makayla Mast
Interesting. Love it. Mine is not at all real estate related, but I guess a little bit. But we are finding woodpeckers. Gosh darn it's makers, right.

00:03:55:10 - 00:03:55:15
Joe Reitzug
Up.

00:03:55:16 - 00:04:10:23
Makayla Mast
To the day. If anyone has any experience fighting woodpeckers, please tell me what actually works, because I'm scared to spend $200 on Amazon with all these little things, you know, like the sound devices, like, does that actually work? I don't know.

00:04:11:01 - 00:04:19:01
Joe Reitzug
You know, what works is going to Amazon and get the bobbling head plastic owl. I'm not kidding.

00:04:19:03 - 00:04:24:23
Makayla Mast
We okay. Yeah. Ours are bad juju to me. But I know.

00:04:25:01 - 00:04:37:11
Joe Reitzug
Folks the mast household has been inundated attacked by Mother Nature. First it was attacking owls, then bats, now woodpeckers.

00:04:37:13 - 00:04:42:00
Makayla Mast
We had honeybees make a nest in our wall this time last year.

00:04:42:02 - 00:04:43:05
Joe Reitzug
You guys need to make.

00:04:43:05 - 00:04:43:23
Makayla Mast
Your peace.

00:04:43:23 - 00:04:45:04
Joe Reitzug
With the local, the.

00:04:45:04 - 00:04:47:22
Makayla Mast
Nature, the mother nature. And I said no.

00:04:48:00 - 00:04:48:02
Joe Reitzug
Here.

00:04:48:05 - 00:05:04:19
Makayla Mast
I know we did hang like sparkly things that are not cute. Not what I'm going for, for my curb appeal around where the woodpeckers have been. So hopefully that'll work. Other than that, we're just punching the wall every time we hear them.

00:05:04:21 - 00:05:06:23
Joe Reitzug
They know if they're getting into your house.

00:05:07:00 - 00:05:12:03
Makayla Mast
No, like upstairs in my bathroom. If I pound on the wall hard like it will hear me. So.

00:05:12:06 - 00:05:13:23
Joe Reitzug
But I mean, they're pecking at your house.

00:05:14:00 - 00:05:14:13
Makayla Mast
Oh yeah. Yeah.

00:05:14:13 - 00:05:15:01
Joe Reitzug
Exterior.

00:05:15:02 - 00:05:15:08
Makayla Mast


00:05:15:10 - 00:05:16:04
Joe Reitzug
Oh yeah. You can't have.

00:05:16:04 - 00:05:40:10
Makayla Mast
That. No, no. In our neighbor's house has like for the listener like softball size circles in their chimney. So we're a little scared I think I might resort to some kind of pellet gun situation but I don't I don't trust myself doing that because I'll definitely break a window. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, if anyone has any advice, let us know.

00:05:40:12 - 00:05:46:11
Joe Reitzug
I think the interwebs would probably have a good source of information on that. I mean, have you googled that?

00:05:46:12 - 00:06:00:20
Makayla Mast
Yes, yes we have. The best thing is the sparkly things that they recommended. But I might resort to some kind of paint, like a clear paint that they don't like the smell of. Just turn. Sure. So that's where we're at man.

00:06:00:20 - 00:06:04:02
Joe Reitzug
You guys have been under attack.

00:06:04:03 - 00:06:05:08
Makayla Mast
I know.

00:06:05:10 - 00:06:06:09
Joe Reitzug
Oh well.

00:06:06:11 - 00:06:09:10
Makayla Mast
Okay. Cons of living next to green space I guess.

00:06:09:10 - 00:06:13:09
Joe Reitzug
T's and P's thoughts and prayers.

00:06:13:11 - 00:06:17:01
Makayla Mast
Thank you much. Appreciate it. Okay moving on.

00:06:17:02 - 00:06:29:17
Joe Reitzug
Moving on to our topic. Yeah I know for 72 hours you can make or break your home sale. And I feel like the first 72 hours is set up by the previous week to two week to three weeks, right?

00:06:29:17 - 00:06:51:04
Makayla Mast
Yes. Don't you feel like when we actually pressed go on a listing that you kind of take a deep breath? Yeah. Because you kind of. Not that you get a break. It's a very important work weekend, but it's a lot of prep work and it's fun to finally get settled. So I agree, I would say we're prepping for at least two weeks on most listings.

00:06:51:04 - 00:06:58:06
Joe Reitzug
Yeah, at least two weeks. Yeah. And we've got 4 or 5 coming up in the next 30 to 45 days that we've been prepping for months.

00:06:58:06 - 00:07:00:14
Makayla Mast
Right? Paint, flooring and.

00:07:00:14 - 00:07:01:06
Joe Reitzug
Carpet.

00:07:01:06 - 00:07:03:00
Makayla Mast
All that takes in a longer.

00:07:03:00 - 00:07:11:12
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. So I love your notes here, though. You say the first weekend isn't just when showings happen, it's when your home is competing at its highest level.

00:07:11:16 - 00:07:12:06
Makayla Mast
Yeah, that.

00:07:12:06 - 00:07:12:15
Joe Reitzug
Is so.

00:07:12:15 - 00:07:13:15
Makayla Mast
True. Thank you.

00:07:13:15 - 00:07:35:14
Joe Reitzug
So true. And there is still a little bit lack of inventory. It depends on the price point. But for the most part all the buyers that are out there and there's a ton of them right now, just because we're seeing low sales activity doesn't mean that there's still not a ton of there's still a lot of people looking, even though they're not actively involved.

00:07:35:14 - 00:07:59:00
Joe Reitzug
They're waiting for the perfect house. Right, right, right. So there's a ton of people are out there. You say this is when the market gives the clearest, most immediate feedback. And that is so, so true because new buyers, it's in a certain neighborhood or certain style or whatever the case may be, you're going to get people calling, you're going to get agents giving you feedback, trying to set up showings, all that type of stuff.

00:07:59:00 - 00:08:03:07
Joe Reitzug
And that's when you really can have your most beneficial conversations in my book.

00:08:03:09 - 00:08:30:08
Makayla Mast
Yes, absolutely. I think part of my inspo for this topic was some of the sellers we've worked with in the past, not currently, who think you should just throw it on the market and see what happens, right? That oh, it gives me the heebie jeebies. It makes me crazy. Yeah, especially when they think, you know, starting at a high price and also not doing prep work and just testing the market and air quotes is going to be a productive strategy for them.

00:08:30:08 - 00:09:00:16
Joe Reitzug
So yeah I 100% agree. Yeah. So you know a lot of people think that their home is, like you said, just going to sell eventually. You know, in reality the first weekend is when your home gets the most attention. And that window, if it's not played right, can cost you time, leverage money. We're going to break down what you need to do and what needs to happen behind the scenes to use it to your advantage and make sure you get off on the best foot possible, right?

00:09:00:17 - 00:09:21:09
Joe Reitzug
That being said, we have seen some homes that have done all the right things and still haven't, you know, had a great showing out of the blocks. And it's just one of those things where sometimes you just don't know. But I think all of us can agree you want to put your best foot forward. Give yourself the absolute best opportunity.

00:09:21:10 - 00:09:43:19
Makayla Mast
Yes, yes, absolutely. Like we are saying, when we press play, when we go live, that's a really important moment. It used to not matter. But of course with the way that people search for homes now, it matters a lot. And active buyers are getting those notifications right away. In fact, they're waiting on it. They know the Wednesday through Friday cycle is when new homes are going to come on the market.

00:09:44:01 - 00:10:06:02
Makayla Mast
So they're excited, you know, and they might, like Joe said, not be the buyer that is touring homes every weekend in a rush. A lot of people are just waiting for the perfect home. Yeah. Because they can and they said so when they do see that house, you know, maybe yours is a perfect match. That's when you have to capture how excited they might be about the property.

00:10:06:05 - 00:10:15:15
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. So let's go into depth on why the first weekend matters so much. Makayla give me the points on what are the big items on why this is so important.

00:10:15:21 - 00:10:35:20
Makayla Mast
Right. Well, I think like we just said, buyers who are ready are waiting and we want them to view the home within the first weekend. It creates a shorter window for peak competition. So ideally our perfect timeline for listing process is listing on my favorite day is a Wednesday. Really? Yes.

00:10:35:20 - 00:10:37:07
Joe Reitzug
I thought it was Thursday.

00:10:37:09 - 00:11:00:16
Makayla Mast
Yeah. Okay. Like Wednesday afternoon. Okay then. That way maybe they see it on Wednesday, but they definitely see it Thursday. They see it Friday for sure. And they're planning their weekend to go to her homes. Maybe they weren't even planning on touring homes, but they can now plan with their agent or plan to, you know, visit the open house that we likely have posted that opening weekend.

00:11:00:16 - 00:11:22:12
Makayla Mast
So opening weekend, we want as many buyers to come through our home as possible. That way it's creating not only competition, but just buzz around the property. Urgency, right? Right. When I go to any open house, if there's nobody there else, they're it's kind of telling, right? But if there's a dozen people in there, people notice those things, right?

00:11:22:18 - 00:11:37:23
Makayla Mast
And then with competition, of course, you're wanting multiple offers. It's always the goal. And that's, you know, usually offer deadlines happen on Sunday night, usually Monday morning or Monday night. So that's your best window for competitive offer situations.

00:11:37:23 - 00:11:58:02
Joe Reitzug
Yeah I don't know if people know this, but our highest online view rates are Wednesday night and Thursday night. Crazy I know, I know, weekends people are busy. You know, they might make plans to go see an open or whatever, but for the most part, it's Wednesdays and Thursdays in the evening when we see the most online traffic for our listings.

00:11:58:04 - 00:11:58:23
Makayla Mast
So right.

00:11:59:00 - 00:12:01:05
Joe Reitzug
Which is on those days makes sense.

00:12:01:07 - 00:12:18:15
Makayla Mast
Absolutely. Also helps, you know, us prepare sellers for showings over the weekend. You know, we can kind of let you know, hey, this might be a busy showing weekend. Maybe plan some stuff out of the house. And then we usually try for an open house opening weekend too. Yeah. Which of course, we prepare them for.

00:12:18:15 - 00:12:41:10
Joe Reitzug
So yeah. And behind the scenes, agents are I don't think this is a secret, but an arm, unless there's something called a prospect profile and everyone that's working with a client who's looking for a home sets up a search, either an ARM class or whatever their their software is that they're using and are alerted the minute something new pops up.

00:12:41:10 - 00:13:06:10
Joe Reitzug
And a lot of times that, like we automatically send to our people whenever someone right is looking for something, especially if it's a particular something and it pops up, we have it automatically sent to them. But all of the agents are seeing that. And when they see a particular home come up, they're going to reach out to their client to say, hey, did you see this place on Northwest Cumberland that just came up?

00:13:06:10 - 00:13:16:22
Joe Reitzug
It's perfect for you. Do we want to set up a time to look at it? I'm noticing there's an open house on Sunday from 11 to 1. Do you want to meet there? Yada yada yada, right?

00:13:17:03 - 00:13:17:09
Makayla Mast
Right.

00:13:17:11 - 00:13:52:04
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. So behind the scenes, a lot of that stuff is is happening. And also as a, as a listing broker, you know, representing you as the seller. We're looking at how many people are looking on our MLS, how many brokers, how many brokers are looking at it on MLS, how many brokers are sending it out to their clients, and then how many showing request, how many online saves and views, and then also just the number of questions and different things that are coming up through phone calls or emails or text about the home.

00:13:52:04 - 00:14:14:01
Joe Reitzug
It's important to know if you're hitting the sweet spot of the marketplace with your marketing, with your positioning, with your pricing. And within the first week or two, we're going to know whether we're placed right or if some component of the whole equation is not right, right, right. So we had a home that we put on the market.

00:14:14:03 - 00:14:37:03
Joe Reitzug
We had some clients that were making an offer on a, on a home contingent upon the sale of theirs. And it was over Christmas time. Their house beautiful, stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. We decided to move forward with putting it on over Christmas. Everything was dialed in. All the marketing, everything was in place as it should be and the price was good.

00:14:37:05 - 00:14:38:14
Joe Reitzug
But it just didn't hit.

00:14:38:16 - 00:14:39:08
Makayla Mast
Yeah.

00:14:39:10 - 00:14:57:03
Joe Reitzug
And my guess is it was the holidays and that put us behind the eight ball, because then, you know, the new year, you know, the holiday happens, then the new year, and all of a sudden your 2 or 3 weeks on the market and it doesn't have that momentum. And we never quite recovered from that.

00:14:57:04 - 00:15:00:07
Makayla Mast
No we didn't. And it is a top 1% home.

00:15:00:07 - 00:15:07:16
Joe Reitzug
So that's a good example of what can happen if you don't, you know, really timed things well and get all the components put together.

00:15:07:18 - 00:15:12:00
Makayla Mast
Right. So should we talk about those components. Because I think we've explained why.

00:15:12:03 - 00:15:12:19
Joe Reitzug
Why it's important.

00:15:12:19 - 00:15:16:14
Makayla Mast
Yeah the urgency is so important. But that preparation work.

00:15:16:20 - 00:15:19:14
Joe Reitzug
What are the components to a good seller strategy.

00:15:19:14 - 00:15:43:16
Makayla Mast
Sure. So we like we said we take a couple weeks to prep sometimes longer. It's not rocket science, but just getting the home to present in the best way possible before we photograph it and put it out there. It's really important you know, we we start we do like staging consultations with you. So if you're not having your home professionally staged, we'll come through and help you.

00:15:43:16 - 00:16:01:15
Makayla Mast
What will help it present the best. You know, furniture wise, things like pressure washing, touch up paint, maybe some bark outside. You know, that's not going to be needed for every home. But we do walk through as well in advance to make sure that we have those items on the docket if we need them.

00:16:01:15 - 00:16:15:06
Joe Reitzug
Right. Timing the launch, like we were talking about putting it out on a Friday just makes no sense at all because people have already made their plans for the weekend. People are busy, they're doing stuff. They're probably not going to see it.

00:16:15:08 - 00:16:16:04
Makayla Mast
You know? Right.

00:16:16:06 - 00:16:29:19
Joe Reitzug
At least not the number of people that you want, as opposed to a Wednesday or Thursday when that's the highest time when people are looking, you know, at their apps and getting emails from their brokers and that type of thing. So timing it is critical.

00:16:29:21 - 00:16:47:01
Makayla Mast
Also, I think photographing it on a good weather day is super important. We don't always have control over that. Of course, where we live can be challenging, but maybe waiting a week to get a better drone shot, a better exterior photo package is definitely worth it in my opinion.

00:16:47:03 - 00:16:50:04
Joe Reitzug
And the big one? Pricing.

00:16:50:04 - 00:16:51:13
Makayla Mast
Pricing.

00:16:51:15 - 00:16:52:02
Joe Reitzug
Yeah, just.

00:16:52:08 - 00:16:55:06
Makayla Mast
Leading up to this right.

00:16:55:08 - 00:17:20:13
Joe Reitzug
All of those things, you know, you can not price your home well and still get a ton of eyeballs on it. And then it doesn't sell then to your two weeks into it and you've got thousands of eyeballs that have seen it online and maybe have visited it for a showing, but you don't have any offers. If all of that happens and you've done everything you can, typically it's the price that's a.

00:17:20:13 - 00:17:21:10
Makayla Mast
Problem, right?

00:17:21:13 - 00:17:28:08
Joe Reitzug
Right. Typically not always, but a lot of times the thing and I hope I'm not going to offend some people.

00:17:28:08 - 00:17:30:23
Makayla Mast
Makayla I know there's no end.

00:17:30:23 - 00:17:51:07
Joe Reitzug
You. But the thing that I hate, I just when I hear it, it makes my teeth grind. Look. Yeah, yeah. But when people say, well, we'd like to just test the market at this because you can always go down in price, but you can't go up. Well yeah, yeah. Or you can be forced to go down in price.

00:17:51:07 - 00:17:57:02
Joe Reitzug
Right, right. And be below where you probably would have gotten your money if you were to price to correctly to start with.

00:17:57:02 - 00:17:59:09
Makayla Mast
Right? If you're going to start.

00:17:59:09 - 00:18:00:17
Joe Reitzug
Testing the market anymore.

00:18:00:17 - 00:18:10:21
Makayla Mast
No, no there isn't. No. If you're a greedy to start, a buyer is going to wait and then they're going to be greedy on the lower end because they want to play that game.

00:18:11:02 - 00:18:31:21
Joe Reitzug
Right, 100%, 100%. And I have to give kudos to one of our upcoming clients. We've been it's one of the properties we're going to be putting on the market here in the next probably 30 days. And we've been working with them for 3 or 4 months now. And they had bought the home year and a half ago.

00:18:31:21 - 00:18:45:12
Joe Reitzug
Two years ago we sold it. We helped them purchase the home. It was a super strong market two years ago, two and a half years ago in the area where they bought and now they're selling, and it's less than what they bought it for.

00:18:45:12 - 00:18:46:02
Makayla Mast
Yeah.

00:18:46:04 - 00:19:11:08
Joe Reitzug
And that's always an uncomfortable conversation because, you know, the market goes up, the market goes down. It is what it is. And my client was so sweet. She is she's a professional. She's very intelligent. She's just a sweetheart. She's absolutely wonderful to deal with both her and her husband. And you know, I sent the information to her and said, hey, I'm going to give you a call.

00:19:11:12 - 00:19:34:00
Joe Reitzug
Before I could even give her a call. Later that day, she'd emailed me back saying, yeah, this is about where we thought it was going to be. And, I appreciate your concerns. And, you know, I had told her, you know, hey, listen, this is tough. I know it is. And she said, we've been lucky enough to buy at the low points and sell at the high points for most of our home buying homes, selling life.

00:19:34:06 - 00:19:40:14
Joe Reitzug
And this is the one time we're just stuck on the wrong side of that. So it is what it is. Wow, I know.

00:19:40:16 - 00:19:42:13
Makayla Mast
I know that never happens.

00:19:42:15 - 00:19:50:00
Joe Reitzug
When I did and you know, I just I could have given her a hug through that, through the, you know, the email screen.

00:19:50:00 - 00:19:58:04
Makayla Mast
But she's in a unique situation where they had to move, right? They were relocating for work, relocating. So there are so many other factors.

00:19:58:04 - 00:20:21:15
Joe Reitzug
That always knowing that they were going to move back to California and it just, you know, it turned out the way that it did. Right. She's been great to work with her and her husband in getting their home ready so that we can maximize it. But she wasn't unrealistic on price. And she's like, I know, you know. And I told her, hey, right before we hit the market, let's do another valuation and make sure that we're priced right.

00:20:21:15 - 00:20:29:12
Joe Reitzug
Could go up, could go down a little bit more. Right. We don't know. We'll reprice it right before we hit the market and was good with it.

00:20:29:13 - 00:20:49:14
Makayla Mast
That's awesome. I think that a fear is that people assume that brokers we want to price at a point that's going to make it sell quickly, meaning that we underprice the home. And so that's always a heart. It's always hard for me at least, to navigate what they're thinking, because then it just becomes like a psychology game.

00:20:49:14 - 00:21:00:04
Makayla Mast
And I'm just guessing. Yeah, but a good broker is going to price you right at that sweet spot based on data that's happening in the neighborhood, you know.

00:21:00:04 - 00:21:26:13
Joe Reitzug
Right. And I've always told people I was told this like within my first 2 or 3 months in the business back in 1995. Yes, I'm old and a guy that I worked for who was awesome. He said, Joe, you'll see a lot of brokers who will tell clients what they want to hear you, right, and try to, you know, sugarcoat things and try not to be the bad guy.

00:21:26:13 - 00:21:51:10
Joe Reitzug
And he said, in the end, your job is to give your clients the absolute honest truth and your 100% honest opinion so that they can make the best decisions possible. Right? Yeah. And, you know, that's always stuck with me. And I always tell people, hey, when it comes to big decisions, I'm not going to candy coat things. I'm just going to tell you how it is.

00:21:51:12 - 00:22:10:12
Joe Reitzug
And also give me, give you my unvarnished opinion so that you can make the important decisions that you have to make. Right. And I think people respect that. And when it comes to pricing, a lot of people think, oh, this broker said I could get this break right. This broker said, I got to get that price. So I'm going to go with the one who thinks.

00:22:10:14 - 00:22:11:12
Makayla Mast
This is worth more.

00:22:11:12 - 00:22:12:17
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. And it's like.

00:22:12:17 - 00:22:15:22
Makayla Mast
Well then we watch it not sell. Yeah.

00:22:15:22 - 00:22:20:11
Joe Reitzug
The market is the market, right. Brokers do not have anything to do with that.

00:22:20:11 - 00:22:20:18
Makayla Mast
Right.

00:22:20:22 - 00:22:24:00
Joe Reitzug
It's buyers that make the market. Yes. Brokers.

00:22:24:00 - 00:22:30:14
Makayla Mast
Right. Exactly. And of course, if we have a difference of opinion in price with the seller, seller always makes the final.

00:22:30:16 - 00:22:31:08
Joe Reitzug
100%.

00:22:31:08 - 00:22:42:12
Makayla Mast
Decision there. And we're still going to advocate for you just like we would any other listing, any other client that's never going to be grab us the wrong way. Yeah. We're advisors. We we do this for a living.

00:22:42:12 - 00:22:43:23
Joe Reitzug
So yeah.

00:22:44:00 - 00:22:45:08
Makayla Mast
Know we have some insights.

00:22:45:12 - 00:22:45:18
Joe Reitzug
Yep.

00:22:46:00 - 00:22:57:10
Makayla Mast
That being said, we were talking about testing the market. I think the only way, in my opinion, that somebody could test the market is by doing like a pocket listing.

00:22:57:11 - 00:22:58:02
Joe Reitzug
Yeah.

00:22:58:04 - 00:23:00:21
Makayla Mast
And people make a listing on it. So I thought it'd be good to talk about.

00:23:00:23 - 00:23:21:05
Joe Reitzug
Or if you don't really need to sell, if the only time testing the market is maybe a good idea is if you don't really need to sell. And that always kind of makes me nervous, because if you don't really need to sell or want to sell, then why are you going through all of this?

00:23:21:05 - 00:23:23:05
Makayla Mast
Right, right. It's not a cakewalk.

00:23:23:07 - 00:23:43:17
Joe Reitzug
It's not a cakewalk. But, you know, in my career, I've had I have had a few people that have said that have had spectacular homes to have said, yeah, if we got this number, yeah, we would sell and we would buy over here. And I'm like, okay, let's give it a shot. And lo and behold, you know, they get the number.

00:23:43:17 - 00:23:45:23
Makayla Mast
They think, I'm so excited to. Yeah.

00:23:46:05 - 00:24:10:11
Joe Reitzug
Which was at the absolute top end of what I thought possible because it was a spectacular home and an incredible neighborhood. And there were no other homes like that available at the time. And 2 or 3 people had been waiting and hoping and all of a sudden, boom, it comes up and all the stars align and the angels sing, and all of a sudden, bang, yeah, you've got a full price offer at a number, at a price that was probably improbable.

00:24:10:12 - 00:24:11:03
Makayla Mast
Right?

00:24:11:05 - 00:24:11:22
Joe Reitzug
So it does happen.

00:24:11:23 - 00:24:14:09
Makayla Mast
So we have an awesome offer.

00:24:14:11 - 00:24:15:09
Joe Reitzug
All the time.

00:24:15:11 - 00:24:38:03
Makayla Mast
Yeah. No, we have an awesome off market property that we have. You know, where we sign the listing with the clients, but we don't we can't market it or put it on on the MLS. We can only share it with other brokers. And our brokerage, which is one of the many reasons we love Sotheby's. There's a amazing group of brokers who also work at Sotheby's, and they have off market properties that we can share.

00:24:38:03 - 00:24:43:08
Makayla Mast
You know, within that network, we show them at sales meetings. And a lot of times there are some great homes in there.

00:24:43:08 - 00:24:44:01
Joe Reitzug
So, yeah.

00:24:44:03 - 00:24:44:20
Makayla Mast
It's worth a shot.

00:24:45:00 - 00:24:49:08
Joe Reitzug
Yep. So what happens if all goes well with the launch?

00:24:49:08 - 00:25:05:05
Makayla Mast
Michela, if all goes well, we have strong showing activity, which is like the most exciting thing we can see on opening weekend. Increased likelihood of multiple offers and sellers, you know, then gain some negotiating power with that.

00:25:05:08 - 00:25:24:10
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. If you get an offer within the first 72 hours, we can post that offer. Offers have been submitted and that here is the offer deadline. So all the other brokers and all the other buyers that are out there can look at it and read that, oh, they've already got an offer.

00:25:24:10 - 00:25:25:00
Makayla Mast
Right.

00:25:25:02 - 00:25:32:06
Joe Reitzug
We were going to go see that this weekend. Well the offer deadline isn't till Monday at, you know, noon or something like that. Yeah. So you still have.

00:25:32:06 - 00:25:32:23
Makayla Mast
Time, right?

00:25:32:23 - 00:26:07:21
Joe Reitzug
Right. And you know, that can create scenarios where you do get multiple offers. And that only happens if all of the work that you put into it up to that point is sequenced. Right. And it's priced right. And the marketing hits where all the people that should be seeing it, see it. And that's a beautiful thing when it does happen for sellers, you know, buyers, a lot of times I have a buyer, a client of mine right now who just bought a house, but we lost out on 2 or 3 other before that because she was kind of looking for a certain certain thing, and there were 2 or 3 that were fantastic.

00:26:07:21 - 00:26:23:11
Joe Reitzug
They were priced incredibly well. We actually went over asking and it didn't work out. That's still happening, right? But it only happens in these situations where you do everything necessary up to going live to make sure that this is all put together in the right way.

00:26:23:13 - 00:26:25:07
Makayla Mast
Yeah, couldn't agree more.

00:26:25:09 - 00:26:48:03
Joe Reitzug
It also creates cleaner transactions, right? This is true where there's not a lot of crazy terms and conditions to the offer. Usually it's just very clean, very easy to work with. And you know, you do get better terms and conditions when you get that quick offer. From a seller standpoint. So lot of great things can happen.

00:26:48:05 - 00:27:07:04
Makayla Mast
I think when you have a buyer that's been on their toes for the perfect home and they make you a strong offer, it's just, I think a higher likelihood that the whole deal will go through in general because they are aware of the process. Right? They've put their best offer forward, and you know that they're going to be easy to work with.

00:27:07:09 - 00:27:07:13
Makayla Mast
Yeah.

00:27:07:14 - 00:27:12:19
Joe Reitzug
Through everything totally. So what happens if it doesn't all come together? Sure.

00:27:12:22 - 00:27:14:02
Makayla Mast
Dun dun dun.

00:27:14:04 - 00:27:14:22
Joe Reitzug
Yeah.

00:27:15:00 - 00:27:22:02
Makayla Mast
Well, the listing can go stale is what we call it. So our average days on market right now is 90 right.

00:27:22:06 - 00:27:26:06
Joe Reitzug
Depends on the price point. But yeah in general yeah probably in the 80s.

00:27:26:08 - 00:27:44:14
Makayla Mast
So you know it used to be if your home was on the market for longer than 14 days, then people had questions. But that's really no longer the case. But once you get past the like 30 day mark, I think people still just question, you know, whether there's something wrong with the property. A lot of times there isn't.

00:27:44:14 - 00:27:52:15
Makayla Mast
Most of the time there isn't, which is, you know, of course, frustrating on the listing side and the buy side, but you don't want your listing to have a lack of interest.

00:27:52:17 - 00:28:02:00
Joe Reitzug
Yeah, people do start questioning things. What could be wrong with it? Right. And, you know, sometimes you can do all the right things, but hey, the power lines are right there.

00:28:02:00 - 00:28:03:22
Makayla Mast
Or back to road and.

00:28:03:23 - 00:28:11:10
Joe Reitzug
You've got a house next to you that isn't ideal and doesn't keep up their yard has that old 72 Chevy parked in the front.

00:28:11:10 - 00:28:14:06
Makayla Mast
Yard, right? So out of your control? Yeah.

00:28:14:06 - 00:28:33:16
Joe Reitzug
Sometimes there's things that are out of can out of your control. The next thing that happens is your broker calling you, saying, hey, we've been on the market. We've had thousands of people look at it online. We've had a couple of showings. The Feedback's not has been great about the home, but they don't pull the trigger. That usually means price.

00:28:33:16 - 00:28:53:22
Joe Reitzug
And so price reductions often follow, right. That whole conversation. So the biggest reason are the biggest outcome. And this is the big one that you want to avoid is if you're pricing it wrong or if you know some of the pieces of the puzzle aren't in place. As far as marketing or getting the house prepped, you know you're not going to get your lowest price.

00:28:54:00 - 00:29:16:11
Joe Reitzug
And once you start going down in list price, it's a steady decline towards less than what you probably should have gotten if it got priced correctly or, you know, whatever the case might be there, right? You know, it's not always the case if if you do lower the price in the first couple of weeks, maybe you can position it and still get a lot of people looking at it and get that sale within 30 days.

00:29:16:13 - 00:29:29:01
Joe Reitzug
But if it goes over 30, 45 days, 45, 60 days, it's going to be tough. Unless it's a spectacular home, it's going to be tough to get the asking price, and more than likely you're going to get less than that.

00:29:29:03 - 00:29:31:21
Makayla Mast
Right? Chasing the market down is.

00:29:31:23 - 00:29:32:14
Joe Reitzug
Not what you want to.

00:29:32:14 - 00:29:54:18
Makayla Mast
Be. No, not good for sellers. It's also weird the listing prices can be so psychological. Like, I don't know if you agree with this, but if something like if we listed something at like 749 and then we changed it to 739, there's not a big, you know, there's not a new group of buyers that are going to come see that listing because you dropped the price 10-K.

00:29:54:18 - 00:30:05:14
Makayla Mast
It's always a weird thing. But if you're, you know, a price point where you're at 715 and then we change it to 699, that's going to likely bring in a lot more buyers 100%.

00:30:05:15 - 00:30:09:17
Joe Reitzug
So yeah, people don't get approved up to seven, 25 or something like that.

00:30:09:17 - 00:30:09:23
Makayla Mast
Right?

00:30:09:23 - 00:30:22:15
Joe Reitzug
Right. Usually it's oh, I shouldn't say 725. That is actually a number that they get approved at. But like 737. Right. Or 739 it's seven 5725 at 700. Those type of big numbers like that.

00:30:22:15 - 00:30:27:01
Makayla Mast
So you know, a lot of times, you know, of course that's out of your control. So.

00:30:27:03 - 00:30:40:20
Joe Reitzug
So wrapping up from the buyer perspective, you know, when all these things happen, it creates urgency. You get immediate attention. Buyers feel pressure. You want them to urgently wanting to be look at your home.

00:30:40:20 - 00:30:42:10
Makayla Mast
Right. Which is a beautiful thing.

00:30:42:10 - 00:30:57:12
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. From the seller side, when all this goes well, you're going to put yourself in position to get good, solid offers with great terms and conditions, shorter selling time which everyone loves, and you're probably going to get the money that you're looking for, right?

00:30:57:12 - 00:31:18:16
Makayla Mast
Absolutely. Win win win win win. Yeah. So if you're thinking about selling this spring, I would give yourself or even this summer or fall. Winter. Give yourself more time than you think. I know we say that a lot on this show, but these things take time for a reason. We don't want to ever rush your home to put it on the market.

00:31:18:18 - 00:31:25:08
Makayla Mast
And do marketing that's, you know, not at its best. So giving us time will help you make more money.

00:31:25:10 - 00:31:41:00
Joe Reitzug
Absolutely. You can go to LivPortland.com LivPortland.com to check out the notes from this this podcast. You can also reach out to us from the website there you can contact us. And also you can go to YouTube if you want to subscribe to the show.

00:31:41:02 - 00:31:52:12
Makayla Mast
Yes. We have a new little segment we've been doing that's just on YouTube. It's called Sotheby's Amazing Homes, where Joe and I review, these amazing homes that are, that it's just so fun to look at.

00:31:52:17 - 00:31:59:00
Joe Reitzug
It is it is wonderful. So keep an eye out for that. But before we go, yes, we have to talk about what we're loving.

00:31:59:00 - 00:32:03:06
Makayla Mast
Yes, we start with our blog and we end with our happy thing.

00:32:03:08 - 00:32:04:17
Joe Reitzug
Yeah. What are you loving?

00:32:04:19 - 00:32:10:03
Makayla Mast
I am loving, I had it right on the top of my mind and now I'm forgetting.

00:32:10:05 - 00:32:15:21
Joe Reitzug
You want me to go? Sure. I'm loving a new listing that we just,

00:32:15:23 - 00:32:16:14
Makayla Mast
Hahaha.

00:32:16:17 - 00:32:20:17
Joe Reitzug
And, it is going to be coming on the market here shortly.

00:32:20:22 - 00:32:21:17
Makayla Mast


00:32:21:19 - 00:32:44:20
Joe Reitzug
On Sophie's Island, it is 15.5 acres with a two homes, not one two homes, a three bedroom, two bath, two and a half baths, 20 probably 20 400ft². And another home that's three bedroom, two bath with, a big shop. Both of them are very nice homes, but beautiful lot on Sophie's Island, which is an incredible place if you haven't been there.

00:32:44:22 - 00:32:59:13
Joe Reitzug
I love this place. And get this. If you've seen the movie almost Famous and you remember one of the stars of the show, Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson, this is Penny Lane's home. Yeah. How wonderful is that?

00:32:59:13 - 00:33:01:14
Makayla Mast
So exciting. It was a fun one.

00:33:01:17 - 00:33:02:11
Joe Reitzug
This will be a fun one.

00:33:02:11 - 00:33:09:05
Makayla Mast
We'll be excited to share the marketing with you, which should be coming out hopefully around the time that this episode is released. Maybe a week or so after.

00:33:09:07 - 00:33:10:07
Joe Reitzug
It could be. Yeah.

00:33:10:09 - 00:33:15:15
Makayla Mast
But yeah, that's a great one. Yeah. What do you like? Well, I'm loving getting my garden ready for the spring.

00:33:15:15 - 00:33:16:01
Joe Reitzug
You and your.

00:33:16:01 - 00:33:19:01
Makayla Mast
Garden, I know, I love it so much. We worked on yesterday.

00:33:19:04 - 00:33:19:15
Joe Reitzug
Nice.

00:33:19:15 - 00:33:28:19
Makayla Mast
And it's just, I don't know, it just makes me happy to be outside pulling weeds and planting plants. And that's what I'm loving. You're happy? Get your get your garden on people.

00:33:28:21 - 00:33:29:11
Joe Reitzug
Yeah, it's.

00:33:29:11 - 00:33:30:22
Makayla Mast
That time of year.

00:33:31:00 - 00:33:33:10
Joe Reitzug
Well good time of year, thank goodness.

00:33:33:11 - 00:33:34:20
Makayla Mast
Yeah.

00:33:34:22 - 00:33:40:12
Joe Reitzug
Well thanks for joining us. And, look forward to seeing you next time. Thank thanks so much. Have a great day.

00:33:40:14 - 00:33:54:18
Makayla Mast
Bye. Thanks for joining us today. If you're interested in finding out more about Joe, myself or the LivPortland team, you can go to LivPortland.com. Thanks for giving us a listen and see you next time on the Off the Record podcast.