The number on the listing sites counts from the day a house goes live. Here is what happens inside those days, and why the first weekend decides most of it.
Thursday to Saturday
Most serious buyers see a new listing in its first forty-eight hours. The open house on the first Saturday is where the sale is usually decided.
The first Tuesday
Offers tend to arrive by the Tuesday after the open house. If none have, the price is the conversation, not the photographs.
Nine days
In the neighbourhoods I work in, a well-priced older house sells in nine to fourteen days. Longer than three weeks means something needs to change.