Chat Plus

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

Washington: In your opinion, how long does it take for a house sitting on the market to be considered "stale?" Two weeks? A month? Six months?

Elizabeth Razzi: Listings go stale and stop drawing buyers' attention surprisingly fast. Buyers and their real estate agents are always interested in checking out the fresh, new listing that just popped up on their e-mail alerts. That's why your home has to be ready for prime time the first day it's listed. And there's no excuse for agents to put the listing online before the information includes photos.

But two weeks would be too early to declare a listing stale. After a month, it might not yet have gone bad, but it could be in need of a price cut.

How much beyond that depends on what's typical for your neighborhood and price range.

Maryann Haggerty: I recently saw some marketing materials from a real estate brokerage that said the number of agent showings of a new listing peaks at about a week and a half to two weeks. That feels about right at a time when it seems houses either sell right away or languish on and on.

E.R.: It's normal for homes priced in the millions of dollars to take a longer time to sell. The higher the price, the smaller the pool of eligible buyers.

M.H.: There are buyers who search for stale listings, figuring that's one way to find a desperate, ready-to-bargain seller. Sometimes, of course, all you find is a stubborn seller.

The next Real Estate Live chat will be 1 p.m. Friday.