Should I list 1 week before I go on vacation, or wait til after I get back?

Question

I just finished renovating a 3/2/2 house in Plano, TX and it's cleaned up and ready to list today (May 26) — but I'm only in town for 1 week, and then I'm going on vacation for a week, with two weekends tacked onto that. I am wondering if I should list it now, or wait until I get back in town.

Pros of listing today:- I would have five days available for in-person showings this week- I could possibly get it rented sooner- While I'm out of town, people could still look at the listing, and schedule showings for the following week- I could hit the ground running when I get back, and get it going sooner- $

Cons of listing today:

- After 5 days of availability, I'll be out of town for 9 days, and unable to physically show it until I get back. That might seem odd/annoying
- I would be dealing with calls and applications when I'm on vacation
- Having it listed too early might result in more days on market, which could make it look less appealing

Apologies if this is a dumb question. This is only my second rental property, but I've never had to place a tenant myself. I used property management in the past, and have been self-managing for a long time, but no turnover that I had to manage. I'm leaning toward waiting til I get back, but just don't want to lose money. I've already paid the mortgage for June, and I'll be back in town June 9. I really want it rented by July 1 if at all possible, so I don't have to pay another month on the mortgage. Any advice appreciated! I'm using RentRedi for the listing.

Laurie Williamson · Answer

Thanks, all, for the great advice! Seth and Kristin, you both make good points. Following up, I listed it late Tuesday night, showed it Wednesday, and tenant turned in their application the same day. Had a signed lease Thursday and they moved in Friday—so now it's Saturday, I'm on vacation, and I am very happy that I am no longer worried about this. :)

Side note, I was concerned at first because when I was researching this area, I saw several other properties in the same zip code, similar square footage and finishes, and comparable rent (in some cases lower rent) than I was asking. Some were active listings for several weeks or longer. So I was worried this would sit for a while. However, I had several people call and email me to ask for a showing, and the listing was only up for a day and a half. It makes me wonder about those other properties... are they real, and if so, why weren't they moving faster? Anyway, thanks everyone for your advice, if anyone else has the same question, I hope seeing the info is helpful.

Bruce Lynn · Answer

Have a realtor assist you. We can put it on the market, handle showings, gather applications. You should be able to do anything you need to do online while you are gone. You can use a realtor just to lease it and then turn it back over to you for monthly management.

Vacancy costs you money.

Theresa Harris · Answer

You mention you won't be able to show it until you get back, so don't bother listing it until about 2 days before you get back from vacation. As you said, it will annoy people to have something listed and not be able to see it-plus people will look at it and forget about it by the time you are back. As a landlord, you are normally available 24/7 for emergencies.

Kristin Flores-Brockman · Answer

Vacancy costs you money. Sounds like you need a Realtor. We handle all of this and more.

Adam Bartomeo · Answer

You should list it while you are away. You don't want to miss an opportunity to schedule a showing for after you come back. Vacancy is a killer and if you can reduce it then you should.

Seth McGathey · Answer

Personally I would just list it. I know other people have said not to, but you can always just say your away and that the earliest you can do is the day you get back. (Could even make it sound like you are too busy with other showings). If they can't wait a week, those people probably won't be available when you get back anyway. But if you wait until you are back, you might miss out on some potential. Otherwise you would just wait until 3-4 days out from getting back. But it also all depends on how desperate you are to get someone in there.

But like others have said, the other option is an agent or friend who can show it for you while you are gone.

Laurie Williamson · Answer

Adam, thank you. I think you're right. I'm going to go ahead and list it, and just reply via email/scheduling while I'm out. Then maybe I'll just lose the one week I'm out of town instead of these two.

Laurie Williamson · Answer

Bruce, thanks for the insights. If I was going to be gone longer than a week, I probably would do that. Right now, it looks like I'll lose a week's rent to my vacation, but I would lose one month's rent (costing me one month's mortgage payment) if I hired a realtor. It would definitely be worth it if I was going to be gone a full month.

Laurie Williamson · Answer

Theresa, thanks for the advice! I'm here for a week before I leave for vacation, so I think I'll list it for now to see if anyone wants to take a look this week. If it doesn't get much traction, I might take it down while I'm out of town, or keep it up and just schedule showings for the following week, when I'm back.

Laurie Williamson · Answer

Thanks for the advice!

Should I list 1 week before I go on vacation, or wait til after I get back?

Should I list 1 week before I go on vacation, or wait til after I get back?

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