You're scrolling through listings when you spot it: Coming Soon. The photos look perfect. The neighborhood is exactly what you've been hunting for. You reach out to your agent and ask when you can see it.
"We'll have to wait until it goes active," they say. "Could be a few days, could be three weeks."
Meanwhile, someone else is already touring that home. They just happen to know the listing agent. And by the time the property hits the MLS, it's already under contract.
Welcome to the Coming Soon game, where early access goes to insiders, and regular buyers are left wondering what happened.
What Coming Soon Actually Means in Colorado
A Coming Soon listing is a property that's been marketed before it officially goes active on the MLS. Under the National Association of Realtors' Clear Cooperation Policy, agents have one business day after publicly marketing a home to list it on the MLS for all agents to see.
But "Coming Soon" creates a gray area. The property can sit in this pre-market limbo for up to 21 days in many MLS systems. During that time:
- Most buyer agents can't schedule showings
- Offers may be accepted before the general public ever gets a chance
- The listing agent's own clients often get first access
- Days on market don't accrue, making the eventual listing look fresher
In Colorado, REcolorado's MLS rules confirm that days don't accumulate during Coming Soon status. That clock only starts once the home goes Active.
Who Actually Benefits From Coming Soon?
The marketing pitch for Coming Soon makes it sound buyer-friendly: "Get early notice! Be first in line!" But look at who really wins.
The listing agent benefits the most. They get to test the market, generate buzz, and potentially find a buyer from their own network before opening the home to competition. In industry terms, this is called "double-ending" the deal, where one agent or brokerage represents both sides.
Colorado banned dual agency in 1994, meaning one agent can't legally represent both buyer and seller. But here's the catch: the same brokerage can still represent both parties through designated agency. So a Keller Williams listing agent's colleague at the same office could bring a buyer, keeping the full commission in-house.
This is exactly what the Clear Cooperation Policy was designed to prevent. Yet Coming Soon status creates a loophole that savvy brokerages exploit every day.
Why don't sellers get maximum value from Coming Soon listings?
Sellers are told Coming Soon builds anticipation and creates a "hot" listing. But here's what the data actually shows: homes sold off-market or through limited exposure typically sell for 1-3% less than homes with full MLS exposure.
That's $6,250 to $18,750 on a $625,000 Denver home. The seller thinks they're getting early interest. What they're actually getting is less competition and a lower sale price.
How do Coming Soon listings hurt Colorado buyers?
If you're a buyer without insider connections, Coming Soon means:
- Properties you'd love go under contract before you can tour them
- You're competing against buyers who got early access
- You have less time to evaluate, get inspections scheduled, and make informed decisions
- The "fresh listing" you finally see may have already been rejected by informed insiders
The last point is critical. If a home sat in Coming Soon for three weeks and nobody in the agent's network wanted it, what does that tell you about the property? Coming Soon status can hide the fact that informed buyers have already passed.
The 2026 Shift: Platforms Fight Back
As of March 2026, major brokerages are pushing Coming Soon listings onto consumer platforms like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com. eXp Realty announced this week they'll share Coming Soon listings on three major portals.
The stated goal is transparency: stopping true "pocket listings" where homes never see public marketing. But the unintended consequence may be even more FOMO-driven buyer behavior, with people making offers on homes they haven't toured just to beat the competition.
This shift doesn't solve the core problem. It just moves the insider game from agent networks to whoever can move fastest on a portal notification.
What are pocket listings and how do they differ from Coming Soon?
A pocket listing is a home for sale that's never publicly advertised. The agent shows it only to their own network. Technically, this violates Clear Cooperation if any marketing occurs (even a social media post counts).
Coming Soon is supposed to be the compliant alternative: the home is acknowledged publicly, but showings are restricted. In practice, the line between them blurs constantly. Agents share Coming Soon properties at office meetings, text them to top buyers, and create informal networks of early access.
The result is a two-tier market: one for insiders with relationships, and one for everyone else.
How to Navigate Coming Soon Listings as a Colorado Buyer
You can't change the system overnight, but you can play it smarter:
- Ask your agent about their brokerage's Coming Soon inventory. If they work at a large brokerage with active listings, they may have early access to properties before they hit the MLS. This isn't unfair, it's just how the game works right now.
- Set up alerts on multiple platforms. Some portals now show Coming Soon listings. The earlier you know, the faster you can prepare.
- Get fully underwritten pre-approval before you shop. When a Coming Soon property goes active and you have 24 hours to compete, a solid pre-approval letter makes you stand out.
- Ask why it was Coming Soon. If a property sat in Coming Soon status for two weeks before going active, ask what happened. Was there early interest that fell through? Are there condition issues insiders spotted?
- Don't chase artificial urgency. "Coming Soon" creates FOMO by design. A home that's perfect for you will still be perfect after a proper tour and inspection. Rushing leads to regrets.
Should I make an offer on a Coming Soon home sight unseen?
Almost never. The entire point of Coming Soon is to generate urgency, and urgency leads to mistakes. In Colorado's contract-heavy process, you need time to review HOA documents, schedule inspections, and evaluate the property thoroughly.
The only exception: if you genuinely know the neighborhood, have seen comparable properties extensively, and your agent has reliable information about the home's condition. Even then, write contingencies that give you exit ramps.
What Your Agent Should Do About Coming Soon Listings
A good buyer's agent doesn't just wait for properties to go active. They should:
- Monitor brokerage channels for Coming Soon opportunities
- Build relationships with listing agents in your target neighborhoods
- Set up automated searches that include Coming Soon status
- Advise you honestly when a Coming Soon property isn't worth chasing
- Never pressure you into rushed decisions just because something is "about to go active"
If your agent uses Coming Soon listings as a pressure tactic, that's a red flag. A professional helps you make informed decisions, not panicked ones.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters
Coming Soon isn't illegal. In many cases, it serves legitimate purposes: giving sellers time to finish repairs, coordinating move-out dates, or testing market interest before committing to full exposure.
But the way it's often used creates a system that benefits industry insiders over regular consumers. Listing agents get to double-end more deals. Brokerages keep commissions in-house. Sellers leave money on the table without realizing it. And buyers compete in a game where the rules favor people with connections.
That's the Squeeze. Not illegal, not always unethical, but tilted away from the people it's supposed to serve.
Key Takeaways
- Coming Soon listings can remain in pre-market status for up to 21 days in Colorado MLS systems
- Days on market don't accrue during Coming Soon status, making listings appear fresher than they are
- Listing agents and their brokerage networks often get first access to Coming Soon properties
- Homes sold with limited market exposure typically sell for 1-3% less than fully marketed properties
- Colorado banned dual agency, but the same brokerage can still represent both sides through designated agents
- Ask your agent about Coming Soon inventory at their brokerage for potential early access
- Never make offers sight unseen just because a listing creates artificial urgency
Thinking about buying in Colorado and want an agent who'll give you straight talk about how the market really works? Take our buyer quiz or schedule a conversation to see if we're the right fit.