We had my parents over for dinner last night and of all things, the conversation came around to the topic of real estate signs.
My mother commented that friends of hers had noticed two of our real estate signs in her neighborhood, and she was curious if they were under contract. In fact, she assumed they were not because there were no “pending” riders on top of the real estate signs.
Her assumption is the very reason that we do not put pending riders on our real estate signs, but I’m willing to conduct a reader poll (below) to see what you think about my rationale.
Pending Riders On Real Estate Signs
There is an important reason why real estate agents put pending riders on their real estate signs. It’s a marketing message to the neighborhood that says “I sold this home, I could sell yours too!”
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For that reason, it makes smart sense to use a “pending,” “sale pending,” or “under contract” rider when a real estate agent has received a valid contract on a home. But you have to wonder if it is really in the best interests of the home seller.
A home seller chose to hire my real real estate company to sell a home, not to get it under contract.
My thinking is that currently only 36% of homes under contract actually proceed to a closing (source: Tallahassee MLS), so are we sending the wrong signal to prospective home buyers? Are we chasing away those that are not willing to put a back-up contract on a home?
So I’ve decided to conduct a survey about whether or not pending sign riders should be used by real estate companies.
Should We Show Pending Status On Real Estate Signs?
I hope you will continue to check back and see what our readers have to say about marketing a home for sale and whether or not “sale pending” riders on real estate signs are doing a disservice to the home sellers.
