Step 8 to Selling Your Home: Pre-Market (Coming Soon) Strategy

Build buzz the smart, compliant way.

A strong pre-market strategy can stack the deck in your favor. Done right, a Coming Soon period warms up buyers and agents so you launch with momentum on Day 1. Done wrong, it can violate MLS rules and backfire. Here’s how we do it—by the book and to your advantage.

First: What “Coming Soon” actually means (and the rules)

• Clear Cooperation (NAR): If we publicly market a property (yard sign, email blast, social, flyers, portals, multi-broker networks, etc.), we must submit it to the MLS within 1 business day. NAR REALTOR

• Bright MLS Coming Soon status:

  • No showings—for anyone—until the listing is Active.

  • No set time limit and not syndicated to Zillow/realtor.com while in Coming Soon. BrightMLS Help

• Office Exclusive (true “pocket listing”): If a seller chooses not to go in the MLS, there can be no public marketing at all (no sign, no public flyers, no social). Marketing is limited to private, non-public channels—otherwise it must go into the MLS within 1 business day. NAR & Office Exclusive

Bottom line: We’ll recommend the right path (Coming Soon vs. Office Exclusive) and keep you 100% compliant while still maximizing exposure.

Our Pre-Market Playbook (When “Coming Soon” fits)

We’ll tailor these moves to your home and timeline:

1. Enter as Coming Soon in Bright MLS
   This legally “starts the clock,” shares to all participants, and builds agent awareness while we finish prep (repairs, staging, photos). No showings

2. Agent-to-Agent Buzz

   • Targeted e-cards/email to local listing/buyer agents: “Coming Soon—launch date, highlights, showing plan.”

   • Private agent networks used in alignment with Clear Cooperation (shared after MLS Coming Soon is filed).

3. Signage (if appropriate)

   • “Coming Soon” rider once we’re in MLS Coming Soon (a yard sign before MLS filing counts as public marketing and triggers the 1-day rule).

4. Marketing Calendar

   • Launch Week Events: We’ll schedule the first open house for the first weekend after the listing goes Active to channel demand into a tight window.

   • Broker Open: Held after activation so we remain show-compliant while in Coming Soon.

5. Collateral

   • Door-front flyer box and neighborhood handouts after MLS Coming Soon is live (flyers are “public marketing,” so we time them correctly).

Typical timeline: 48–72 hours to spin up pre-market assets; once pro photos and the floor plan are back, we flip to Active and open showings.

If “Office Exclusive” makes more sense

There are rare cases (privacy, security, high-profile owners) where sellers prefer no public marketing. We can do that—but it means:

• No sign, no public flyers, no social/portals, no multi-broker blasts.

• Private, 1:1 outreach only.
  If circumstances change, we can pivot to MLS Coming Soon or Active quickly.

Bottom Line

A strategic, rules-clean pre-market push helps you launch with buyers queued up and agents paying attention. We handle the details so you get the upside—without the fines or headaches.

💡 Want a custom pre-market plan for your South Jersey or Pennsylvania home?
Call Quarterman Realty Group at 609-948-4306 or email info (@) quartermangroup.com.

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