There's Nothing Like a Deadline to Make Things Happen

Seems like there's always so much to do – start this, finish that, don't forget about that other thing, whoops we meant to call so-and-so... 

Don't you find that nothing focuses the mind quite like a deadline? 

It's true in real estate, too. 

An "offer deadline" for a listing is a delicate matter. 

On the one hand, the existence of an offer deadline should motivate anyone who's interested to get their act together and put in an offer. 

If there's a deadline, that must mean there's lots of interest, right? Maybe multiple offers are coming?

On the other hand, what if an "offer deadline" is announced, and nothing comes in? The seller could go from a high-leverage position to a weaker spot as soon as deadline day passes. Ouch!

We're relieved – on behalf of the sellers, who aren't even our clients – to be discoursing on this topic today on account of 2422 N. Ardmore (4br/4ba, 3017 sqft.) making a deal. 

They did this after putting this into the listing as the first line last week:

* * * * * * * * * Offers DUE Tuesday May 12th 2026 by 5 pm"

Oh boy, you had better be sure offers are coming if you're going to do that!

In this case, the sellers had some information to work with, so they weren't merely hoping or guessing that there'd be enough interest for a deadline to be in order. 

From April 3-29th, they ran the listing out there at $3.750M.

That number seemed relatively low for an upgraded, family-sized home in the Tree Section. (It is all relative.)

A key reason for the cautious start price: Location. The home overlooks one of the busiest – some might say one of the most notorious – intersections in all of Manhattan Beach, sitting at the corner of Pacific & Ardmore. (It might be busy there, but the current version of the listing language say the home is "Super QUIET inside.") 

Location issues mean discounts, and sometimes the extent of the discount is hard to figure. You need to road test it.

They had some open houses on that first listing, but apparently no offers.

So they took the listing down for several days, re-emerging 10% lower at ("only") $3.375M. 

That is when they added the urgent offer deadline. 

By Wednesday night, they had a deal.

So there, the gambit of publicizing a deadline on an underpriced property worked. 

We've had mixed experiences with deadlines. 

On our own listings, we'd rather wait to be certain that multiple offers are coming before setting a date. And then, it's more about organizing a process than creating urgency. 

We truly believe that an open, orderly offer process is best for the seller, as well as for buyers. 

If you don't announce a deadline and multiple buyers are scrambling, you get chaos. People rush to be the first one in the door, and sometimes demand a quick response. (We discussed "The Jerk Move" in this video short.) 

But we've misread the situation before, or had buyers drop out at the last moment for weird and wild reasons. Suddenly, your multiple-offer deadline passes with no offers. (Gulp!) Those sales came together anyway, after a hiccup. 

So yes, deadlines can work. But only when they’re earned.

Set one too early, and you’re gambling.

Set one at the right moment, and you’re guiding the flow.