A Sign in the Yard Isn't a Marketing Plan.
I've been selling Gig Harbor real estate since 2009, and the homes that sell well have one thing in common: a plan built before the first photo is taken. Here's exactly what goes into yours, and why each piece is there.
A Marketing System. Not a Hope and a Lockbox.
Plenty of homes go live with phone photos and a prayer. Mine don't. Every home I list gets professional photography and an HD video tour. The rest of the toolkit gets matched to your home, your price point, and the buyers most likely to want it.
No padding the package to look impressive. If a tool won't help your home sell, it doesn't go in the plan.
Days on market come from NWMLS. Since September 4, 2026, NWMLS starts that count (now called Days Active) when a listing goes Active, so time spent in First Look isn't included. Price changes made during First Look aren't shown publicly either.
Not ready to go Active yet? See how First Look works
Professional Photography
Every listingMy listings are photographed by Denis, founder of Colibri Real Estate Media. He's spent more than twenty years behind the lens shooting people, events, nature, and architecture, which means he knows how light behaves in a room before he ever sets up a tripod.
That matters because buyers decide online if your home is worth the drive. Good photos get them in the car. Great ones get them there first.
Social Media Marketing
Every listingPosting a listing once and hoping isn't a strategy. I build a campaign around your home: reels people actually finish, video tours that get shared, and targeted reach toward the buyers most likely to bite.
I've spent years learning how these platforms decide who sees what, so your home lands in front of people who can buy it, not just people who like looking.
Virtual Open House
Virtual or in personA Sunday open house brings a handful of people through your home, and a few of them are neighbors who wanted to see your kitchen. A virtual open house puts your home in front of hundreds of online viewers, sometimes thousands, with live questions and none of the foot traffic or security worries.
Prefer a traditional open house? I'll coordinate that too. You pick.
HD Video Tours
Every listingEvery listing I take gets an HD video tour. What changes is the style. Depending on your package and price point, that might be a cinematic walk-through, a lifestyle piece, or a quick social cut built to stop the scroll.
Photos show buyers what your home looks like. Video shows them what it's like to be there.
Virtual Staging
When it fitsI use virtual staging when your home needs it, not to fill a checklist. Empty rooms are hard for buyers to picture, so staging shows them how the space actually lives.
It also works when one room deserves the spotlight: a home office, a media room, a primary suite worth bragging about. Realistic, cost-effective, and nobody has to move a couch.
Digital Floor Plans and 3D Tours
When it fitsBuyers want to know how a home flows before they spend a Saturday on a showing. Digital floor plans and 3D walkthroughs built on the Cortex AI platform let them explore room by room from a phone or laptop, any hour of the day.
I bring this in for homes with unusual layouts, generous square footage, or features that deserve to be seen from every angle.
First Look: NWMLS's Version of Coming Soon
Seller's choiceSome homes need a few more weeks before they're ready for Active. The painters are still there, or the photos aren't scheduled yet. First Look lets buyers and every broker in NWMLS know your home is coming, and the days-on-market count doesn't start until it goes Active.
It's a tool with trade-offs, not a trick for creating buzz. Here's how it works, so you can decide if it fits.
The longest a home can stay in First Look. It converts to Active on the date we set, or sooner if you're ready.
Your home has to have been off the market at least this long to qualify.
Whether buyers can tour the home during First Look.
If you'll take offers before the home goes Active.
First Look listings are entered in NWMLS and visible to every broker and their buyers. This isn't a pocket listing.
Nothing about your home gets advertised until the listing is entered in NWMLS. No teaser posts, no sign rider, no email blast before that.
Good reasons to use it
- Your home is being prepped and you want buyers watching for it.
- You want to tell your home's story on social media while the work wraps up.
- Your home is one of a kind, there are no good comparable sales, and you want market feedback before setting the Active price.
The trade-offs
- The 21-day limit is firm, so your prep timeline has to be real.
- Taking an offer before Active means you never see what full exposure might have brought.
- Opting out of public search sites costs you buyers. More on that below.
If you want to keep it off the search sites
You can choose to keep a First Look listing off the thousands of home search sites that pull from NWMLS. Before you do, know what it costs: those sites may show your home as off market or not for sale, with old photos, wrong details, or a price estimate that doesn't match your list price. Plenty of buyers won't see it at all.
If you opt out, Washington law still requires your home to be marketed to the public, so I'll show you in writing how it will reach buyers through my own site and social channels.
Based on NWMLS Legal Bulletin 233, effective September 4, 2026. NWMLS Rules 2, 27, and 119 and RCW 18.86.130 govern, and rules change. I confirm the current version every time we plan a launch.
See Your Home's Marketing Plan Before You Sign Anything.
Tell me about your home and your timeline. I'll show you which of these tools I'd use, which I'd skip, and why. You'll know exactly how your home would be marketed before you commit to a thing.
No pressure. No pitch.
Rather just talk? Call or text (253) 426-8785
or email stacia@staciasellshomes.com
Still deciding whether to sell? Start with the Seller's Guide Slinging houses since 2009
Stacia Whatley, owner of StaciaSellsHomes, brokered by Hawkins-Poe Real Estate