Coming soon listings in Ontario: what you can do before going live

A coming soon sign on the lawn is good marketing. It gets neighbours talking and buyer agents calling before the photos are back. It also starts a clock that a lot of agents don’t realize is running. Since January 2024, putting a property in front of the public obliges a REALTOR® to get it on the MLS within days. Here’s what counts as public marketing, what RECO’s advertising rules add, and how to plan the week before launch so you stay on the right side of both.

The REALTOR® Cooperation Policy

CREA’s REALTOR® Cooperation Policy came into effect on January 3, 2024. Once a residential property has been publicly marketed, the listing has to be placed on an MLS® System within the timeframe your board or association has adopted, unless an exemption applies. The policy lets boards set that window at up to three days. Check your own board’s rules for its number and whether it counts calendar or business days.

CREA describes public marketing as one-to-many. Its examples are flyers, yard signs, digital marketing and newsletters. One-to-one marketing, such as telling a buyer client about a property or a direct conversation with another agent, does not trigger the policy.

So a coming soon sign, a post on your social accounts, an email to your list or a teaser on your website all count. Each one starts the clock on the day it goes out.

Exclusive listings are still allowed

The policy doesn’t ban exclusives. A seller who wants privacy can keep the property off the MLS, and you can market it within your own office or in one-to-one conversations with other agents. What you can’t do is market it publicly and keep it off the MLS. If a seller asks for an exclusive, talk through what they gain and what they give up in exposure, and get their instructions in writing.

RECO’s advertising rules still apply

A coming soon post is advertising, and RECO’s Bulletin 5.1 applies to it like any other ad:

• •It must include your brokerage’s name as registered with RECO, clearly and prominently. Team names and nicknames don’t replace it.
• •It can’t include anything that could reasonably identify a specific property, whether an image or text, unless the owner consents.
• •It can’t be false, misleading or deceptive. A post doesn’t need to mislead everyone to be misleading.

The consent point matters most before launch. A photo of the front door with “coming soon to Westdale” identifies the house. Get the seller’s consent in writing before anything identifiable goes out, and ideally have the listing agreement signed first. Advertising a home for someone who hasn’t signed with you creates problems if they change their mind or list with someone else.

Planning the days before launch

Because the clock starts with the first public post, work backwards from the day you want to go live on the MLS:

• •Photos, floor plan and measurements booked and delivered before any public teaser goes out.
• •MLS data form and remarks drafted and checked, so entering the listing takes an hour.
• •The first public marketing (sign, post or email) goes out no earlier than your board’s window before your planned MLS date.
• •Showing instructions and the offer date, if you’re holding offers, decided before launch day.

If you want a longer tease, keep it one-to-one until the window opens: calls to agents with buyers in the area, a note to your past clients who asked to hear first, a conversation at your office meeting. Those don’t trigger the policy, and they let you gauge interest.

What a coming soon post should say

Keep it factual and short. The neighbourhood, the property type, the main features and the date it will be available are enough. Leave out the price unless it is settled, because a coming soon price that changes before launch reads as a reduction on day one. Include the brokerage name, and point people to one place to register interest, such as your website or a showing request form, so you can reach them the day the listing goes live.

Buyer agents who see the sign will ask for an early showing. Before you book one ahead of the MLS date, check your board’s rules and your brokerage’s policy, and have a one-line answer ready with the launch date.

Questions sellers ask

Sellers who have heard about coming soon campaigns often want one. A few questions come up at nearly every listing appointment:

• •Can we put the sign up now and list in a month? Not if the sign is public marketing, which a yard sign is. The listing goes on the MLS within your board’s window after it goes up.
• •Can you show it to your own buyers first? You can talk to buyers one to one. Once the property is publicly marketed, it goes on the MLS, and every agent’s buyers can see it.
• •Can we test the price quietly? An office exclusive or one-to-one conversations can give you a read, as long as nothing public goes out. Explain that the house gets less exposure while it’s off the MLS.

Answering these clearly at the appointment keeps the seller’s expectations in line with the rules, and it saves a conversation after the sign is already in the lawn.

When plans change

Photos get rained out and sellers need another week. If your MLS date slips after public marketing has started, you may run past your board’s window. Talk to your broker of record as soon as you see the date slipping. Pausing the marketing doesn’t undo the posts already out.

Keeping launch week on schedule

Listing Launchpad’s Key Dates tab holds the launch milestones for each listing (photos, first marketing, MLS live, open houses) and syncs them to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar. Its transaction checklists start with a Pre-Listing stage, so the data form, remarks and photos are ready before the first sign goes up.