Your listing is live, the photos look good, and you’re ready for the phone to start ringing. But the showings are not coming in at the rate you expected, and every day that passes without activity raises a new question: is something wrong with the listing, or is this just the market? Both are worth examining. Before you assume it is the market, there are concrete steps you can take right now answer the question of how to get more showings, starting with your MLS listing itself and then expanding from there. This post walks through both in order.

Start With Your MLS Listing

The fastest way to generate more showing activity is to improve what buyers and agents are already looking at. Before investing time and money in off-MLS marketing, audit your existing listing for the five most common reasons activity stalls: photos, description, showing access, price, and days on market.

Are your photos doing enough work?

Photos are the single most impactful element of your MLS listing. Buyers make their first decision based entirely on visuals, and in a market where dozens of homes are competing for the same buyer’s attention, professional photography is not a nice-to-have. It is the price of admission for serious consideration. If your current photos were taken on a phone, shot in low light, or show rooms that were not properly staged or decluttered, that is the most likely reason buyers are scrolling past without clicking through.

The fix is straightforward: hire a professional real estate photographer and reshoot the property. Lead with your strongest exterior image. Walk buyers through the home in a logical sequence that mirrors the flow of an actual showing. Make sure every room is bright, clean, and accurately represents the property as it looks today. If your home has been updated or improved since the original photos were taken, that is even more reason to refresh them. New photos also give the listing a visual reset that can re-attract buyers who passed on it the first time.

Is your listing description actually selling the home?

Most listing descriptions do not sell anything. They restate facts that are already captured in the data fields: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open floor plan, updated kitchen. A good description does something different. It gives buyers context, highlights features the data fields cannot capture, and creates a specific reason to want to see the home in person.

Think about what makes your property genuinely different from the three other similar homes currently active in your zip code. A large backyard in a neighborhood where lots run small. A quiet street with no through traffic. A recently renovated primary suite. A garage with oversized storage. These are the details that convert a scroll into a showing request. Write them plainly and specifically, in plain language, not in the inflated real estate jargon that makes every listing sound identical to every other one.

Are you making showings too hard to book?

Restricted showing windows, slow approval response times, and unclear access instructions directly reduce the number of showings you get. Buyer’s agents work with clients who have limited availability and are often scheduling multiple tours in a single afternoon. If your property requires 24-hour advance notice, has a narrow two-hour showing window each day, or takes hours to approve, agents will fill that buyer’s schedule with listings that are easier to access and move on.

Review your current showing settings. Open up your availability as much as your schedule allows. Set your approval response to as fast as possible, ideally instant or within the hour. Confirm that your lockbox is properly placed, the code is correct in the system, and access is straightforward for any agent walking up cold. Every friction point you remove is a showing you are more likely to get.

Is your price aligned with what the market is actually doing?

Price controls everything else. A listing priced correctly relative to recent comparable sales will generate activity. A listing priced above the market will sit, regardless of how strong the photos are or how easy the showings are to book. If your listing has been active for more than two to three weeks with minimal interest, pull the recent sold comparables in your area and compare them honestly against your asking price.

Look at homes that closed in the last 60 to 90 days with similar square footage, bedroom and bathroom count, lot size, and condition. If your price is sitting above that range, the market is telling you something clearly. A targeted price adjustment, even a modest reduction of two to three percent, can re-trigger algorithmic notifications on Zillow and Realtor.com that push your listing back in front of buyers who previously saw it and kept scrolling. 

Should you consider a status reset for fresh days on market?

Days on market is a number buyers and agents watch closely. A listing that has been active for months without going under contract signals to buyers that something may be wrong with the property, even when nothing is. That perception alone suppresses showing activity and invites lowball offers from buyers who assume the seller is becoming desperate.

One option worth discussing with your Falaya coordinator is a status reset: temporarily withdrawing the listing and relisting it as a new active listing. This resets the days on market counter and gives the listing a fresh start in the eyes of buyers and the home search site algorithms. It works best when combined with a photo refresh, a revised description, and a corrected price so that the new listing actually looks and performs differently than the old one.

Open Houses and Showing Events

Open houses can be an effective tool for generating direct buyer contact, especially in markets where inventory is moving. Done correctly, they create a sense of urgency, bring in buyers who are actively searching, and generate direct feedback on how the market is responding to your home.

How to run an open house that generates real leads

An open house is only as effective as the preparation and promotion behind it. A yard sign and a same-morning MLS update will not move the needle. Effective open house promotion starts several days in advance and reaches buyers across multiple channels simultaneously.

Submit your open house to Falaya through the MLS change request process at least four to five days before the event so it appears on Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin with enough time for buyers to plan around it. Post about it on your personal social media accounts with clear photos and the address at least three to four days early. Put directional signs at the nearest major intersections on the morning of the event, not just a sign in front of the property. Have printed feature sheets inside for buyers to take with them, and collect names and contact information from everyone who walks through so you can follow up. The goal of an open house is not just foot traffic. It is qualified contact from buyers who are genuinely interested. 

Broker open houses: getting buyer’s agents through the door

A broker open house is an open house hosted specifically for real estate agents rather than the general public, typically held on a weekday morning or early afternoon when agents have time between client appointments. The purpose is to get buyer’s agents physically inside your home so they can speak knowledgeably about it to their clients when they are actively touring properties.

An agent who has personally walked through your home and was impressed by it is far more likely to recommend it to a buyer client than an agent who has only seen photos in the MLS. In markets where agent cooperation is high, and word-of-mouth among agents carries real weight, a broker open can introduce your property to a network of active buyer’s agents far more effectively than a listing sitting passively in the database.

Taking Your Listing Beyond the MLS

The MLS syndicates your listing to Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and other major home search platforms. That distribution covers a large share of the active buyer pool, but it does not reach buyers through social media, hyper-local community channels, or direct outreach. Off-MLS marketing expands your exposure to buyers who are searching actively but may not be running daily Zillow searches, and most of these channels cost little to nothing to use.

Facebook and Instagram

Social media is one of the most underused marketing channels available to home sellers. Posting your listing on your personal Facebook and Instagram accounts with professional photos, the full address, the asking price, and a link to the MLS listing reaches a network of people who already know and trust you. Some of them are looking to buy. Some of them know someone who is looking to buy in your area. Real estate word-of-mouth through social media travels fast, and a single share from the right person can put your home in front of hundreds of potential buyers at zero cost.

If you want to reach buyers beyond your personal network, Facebook and Instagram paid advertising lets you target by zip code, online buyer activity, and life events like “likely to move” or “recently engaged.” A well-targeted paid post running for two to three weeks costs a fraction of a price reduction and can deliver your listing directly to buyers who are actively in the market but have not found it through the traditional MLS search workflow.

Facebook Marketplace and community groups

Facebook Marketplace has become a legitimate real estate exposure channel. Many buyers browse it casually alongside Zillow, and posting your home there costs nothing. Include your best exterior photo, a concise description, the full address, the price, and a direct link to your full listing so interested buyers can get the complete picture.

Local Facebook community groups are equally valuable, particularly in smaller markets or tight-knit neighborhoods. Search for buy/sell groups, neighborhood groups, and local real estate groups in your area and post your listing in each one. These audiences are hyper-local and frequently include people who have a specific reason to want to stay in or move to that community, which makes them higher-quality leads than a general buyer browsing nationally.

Nextdoor and neighborhood-level exposure

Nextdoor is a neighborhood-based social platform used by millions of homeowners. Posting your listing there reaches your immediate neighbors directly, many of whom have friends, family members, or coworkers interested in moving to the area. Neighbor-generated leads are some of the strongest a seller can receive, because the buyer already has a personal reason to want to be in that specific neighborhood before they ever step through the door.

YouTube and video walkthroughs

Video content drives significantly higher engagement than static photos across almost every online platform, and a well-produced walkthrough video gives buyers a far more complete picture of the property than a photo gallery alone. Upload your video to YouTube with a title that includes the full street address and neighborhood name, which helps it appear in location-specific searches. Share the link on your social media channels, in your MLS listing description if your board allows external links, and in any direct outreach you do to interested buyers.

Buyers who watch a complete walkthrough video before requesting a showing tend to arrive more informed and more seriously interested, which means the showings you do schedule convert to offers at a higher rate.

Yard signage and neighborhood flyers

Physical marketing still works. A well-placed yard sign with a clear phone number or QR code linking to your listing captures buyers who are driving through neighborhoods rather than searching on a screen. If your community allows it, directional signs at nearby intersections pull additional drive-by traffic toward the property.

A simple one-page flyer with a strong exterior photo, key property details, the price, and your contact information can be placed on community bulletin boards, left at nearby coffee shops, or distributed personally to neighbors with a request to share it with anyone they know who might be interested. The cost is minimal. The reach within your immediate community can be significant.

How Falaya Can Help You Expand Your Reach

Falaya sellers are not locked into a static listing from day one. You can request updates, add services, and adjust your strategy at any point during your listing period. You stay in control of the process, and you add support exactly where you need it.

MLS listing updates and optimization

If you need to update your photos, revise your description, adjust your price, schedule an open house, or modify your showing instructions, submit a change request through Falaya and our team will update the listing in the MLS. Keeping your listing current and optimized is one of the most direct ways to maintain buyer attention and stay competitive against other active listings in your area. Stale listings lose clicks. Updated listings stay in the running.

When to consider adding a la carte services

Falaya offers additional services beyond the core listing package for sellers who want more hands-on support at specific points in the process. If you want help evaluating your price against current market data, coordinating a professional photo reshoot, or running paid social media ads for your listing, you can add those services on demand without committing to a traditional listing agent and the commission that comes with it. 

A Simple Action Plan for Sellers Who Want More Activity

If your listing is live and activity is lower than expected, work through this list in order before drawing conclusions about the market:

• Audit your photos first. If they were not shot by a professional photographer, replace them before making any other change. This is the single highest-impact improvement available to most sellers.
• Rewrite your listing description. Make it specific, honest, and focused on what makes your property stand out from the competition currently on the market.
• Open up your showing availability. Reduce restrictions, speed up your approval response time, and confirm your lockbox or access instructions are working correctly.
• Compare your price to recent closed sales. If comparable homes are closing below your asking price, a targeted adjustment will generate more activity than any marketing change.
• Schedule an open house and promote it early. Post on social media three to four days in advance and submit the event to Falaya for MLS distribution at the same time.
• Post on Facebook Marketplace, local community groups, and Nextdoor. These channels are free, hyper-local, and reach buyers who are not running daily searches on Zillow.
• Shoot a video walkthrough and upload it to YouTube. Share the link everywhere you are already promoting the listing.
• Contact Falaya if you want additional support. Our team can help you evaluate what is working, identify what to change, and add services where they make the most sense.

More eyes = more showings = more offers. The steps above put your home in front of more buyers, across more channels, at every stage of their search. Work the list, stay responsive, and keep your listing sharp.

Ready to update your listing or explore additional services? Visit Falaya to get started.