If you want your home to be listing on the MLS, the minimum listing period is two months. Watch out for the agents’ trick with this one. There’s a tactic that a lot of agents will use. They’ll list a home at a price they know they have no chance of getting but will do it in order to secure the seller under contract. They’ll say the contract is for only 2 months to make it sound better for them and they’ll say if we don’t sell in that time period our contract is over and the seller is free to sign up with someone else. After three weeks on the market with very few showings and no offers the seller starts to get anxious. The agent meets with them and instead of dropping the price he convinces them to cancel the current listing and start it as new. Normally this is the suggested method of approach if a home isn’t selling. Believe it or not there are some lazy agents out there who won’t realize it’s simply a relisit when it comes back on the market but will think it’s a brand new listing! The agent starts the listing over and because of the 2 month minimum he’s effectively extended his contract from the initial 2 months to almost 3. As a tip, sign up for 2-3 months and make sure your agent is very clear with you upfront. DO NOT sign a long contract. It really only makes sense to do this in a recession like ’08, not when the market is hot.