GROW WITH LIBERTAS & EXP REALTY
By Tim & Julie Harris · November 4, 2026
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Your seller signs the listing agreement and says, “Great. So when does it go on Zillow?” Most agents answer with a date and cross their fingers.
Here’s the truth: the best listings don’t just go live. They launch. The buzz gets built before the home hits the market, and the first 14 days decide how the whole listing goes.
Coming Soon listings are heading into agents’ search tools
eXp announced on October 27 that its Coming Soon listings will appear in RealScout, a home search tool agents share with their clients, later this year, Real Estate News reported. eXp CEO Leo Pareja: “More eyes, sooner, means more fair outcomes for our sellers.” (We’re with eXp, and our opinions are our own.)
Pre-marketing is moving right into the conversation between agents and their buyers.
Before your home goes live, I want the right buyers and their agents already talking about it.
Even the portals call Coming Soon a short runway
On October 21, StreetEasy, Zillow’s New York City site, added Preview and Coming Soon statuses that last up to 14 days. StreetEasy called it “a short window to build momentum, not a permanent state.”
It’s a runway, not a parking lot. Pick the go-live date before the photos are taken.
Big brokerages want more homes in one place
On October 26, AGNT, eXp’s parent company, joined HomeServices of America, Keller Williams and Real REMAX Group to announce Open Real Estate, a shared platform where a listing is entered once and goes to participating firms, MLSs and home search sites. More brokerages are already signing on, and the full launch is expected in early 2027.
The direction is more exposure for your sellers, not less. As one early broker put it, sellers shouldn’t “have to list with seven agents” to be seen.
First, the rule that comes before everything
Follow your MLS’s Clear Cooperation and Coming Soon rules. Under NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, once you market a home to the public, you have one business day to put it in the MLS. Coming Soon rules vary a lot by MLS, so call your MLS and your broker first.
Your 14-day listing launch checklist
Days 14 to 10: Fully pre-qualify the seller and set the launch date. Use our seller pre-qualification script in Premier Coaching: “Do you have to sell, or want to sell?” Then put the go-live date on the calendar together.
Days 10 to 7: Prep, photos and the story. Repairs, staging, professional photos, a floor plan and a video walk-through.
Day 7: Go Coming Soon, if your MLS allows it. MLS first, then the sign and the social post.
Days 7 to 3: Your sphere and the neighbors. Call and text your sphere and buyer list, and send a “pick your neighbor” note to the street.
Days 5 to 1: The agent preview. Call the top 10 agents who sold in that neighborhood this year and invite them through, or hold the preview on day one if your MLS doesn’t allow Coming Soon showings.
Day 0: Go live on a Thursday, with an open house that weekend. Plan it with the Open House Launch Pad, the interactive tracker in Premier Coaching, so every step from invitations to follow-up is checked off.
Days 1 to 14: Feedback within 24 hours and a written update every week, straight from our 180-day seller communication plan.
Let your AI Business Bot write the launch content
Set this up once and reuse it for every listing.
You’re my listing launch assistant. When I give you a new listing’s details, write: a ‘coming soon’ social post, a text for my sphere, a ‘pick your neighbor’ letter, an email inviting top local agents to a preview, and a go-live post. Keep each one warm and specific to the home, include no price unless I give one, avoid fair housing problem words, and remind me to confirm my MLS rules before anything posts.
If you’d like help running the whole launch, from the posts to the weekly seller updates, that’s what our Agent AI team at HarrisAITeam.com is built for.
Agree on the price plan before launch day
Most price fights happen on day 30 because nobody agreed on anything on day zero.
Seller: “Let’s start high. We can always come down later.”
You: “I want you to get every dollar the market will pay. The most buyers will ever look at your home is the first two weeks. If the price misses then, we lose our best shot.”
Seller: “So what do you suggest?”
You: “We launch at the price the recent sales support, and we agree today on what the market has to tell us. Plenty of showings and no offers means it’s the price. Few showings means it’s the marketing or the price, and we look at both together.”
Seller: “And if we need to adjust?”
You: “Then we do it on a date we pick right now, not out of panic later. On a scale of 1 to 10, how comfortable are you with that plan?”
The moral of the story: the buzz gets buyers in the door, and the price gets the offer. A great launch at the wrong price just introduces buyers to the house they’ll use for comparison.
Here’s the math. Every launch is also proactive lead generation. If a strong launch adds one closing for every three listings, 12 listings a year means four more closings, about $40,000 at a $10,000 average commission. It’s another spoke in the wheel of lead generation, and it helps you keep 10 listings at all times.
I’m afraid to tell sellers their price is too high. How do I get past that?
Use a technique we call connection and assertiveness, in that order.
Connect first. “You’ve raised your family here. Of course you want top dollar.”
Then be assertive, and kind. Say the number clearly, show the recent sales and stop talking.
Remember who you’re protecting. The agent who agrees to a price that’s too high wins the price reduction, and often the yet-to-be-sold listing.
I care too much about you to tell you what you want to hear.
Can I put a Coming Soon sign in the yard before the listing is in the MLS?
Check your MLS rules first. In most MLSs a sign counts as public marketing, which starts the one-business-day clock. When in doubt, the MLS comes first, then the sign.
My seller wants to skip the prep and list now. How do I slow her down?
Show her that a week of prep is part of the launch, not a delay. A firm go-live date feels like progress, not a stall.
We only get one first impression. Give me seven days and we’ll make it count.
Two weeks in, my seller is already frustrated. What should I be doing?
Communicate before they have to ask. Send a written update every week with showings, feedback, online views and what’s next, and call with the feedback instead of just forwarding it. Our 180-day seller communication plan in Premier Coaching lays out every touch.
Are pre-marketing rules the same in Canada?
Not exactly. They come from your board and your provincial regulator, so ask your board. The launch plan itself works everywhere.
Your challenge this week: Write down your MLS’s Coming Soon rules on one page, build your 14-day checklist and take it to three listing appointments. Then email us how many sellers said yes to a launch date and a price plan.
Don’t just list it. Launch it, inside the rules, with the price plan agreed before day one. Listings sitting longer than they should? Most of the time it’s the launch, not the price. Ask us about yours at PremierCoaching.com.
Meet the Harris AI Real Estate Team
We built a team of AI specialists that handles the busywork of running a real estate business, from follow-up to market reports, so you can spend your time with clients.
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— Tim & Julie Harris
Founders of Tim & Julie Harris Real Estate Coaching | Publishers of Harris Real Estate Daily | Hosts of PowerHouseTalk | eXp Realty Sponsors at Libertas
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