At 9:15 one evening last week, a new listing popped onto the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). By 9:17, or something close to it, my phone lit up with a text from one of my buyers asking if we could see this listing tomorrow. Absolutely.

This particular buyer and I have been working together for a couple of months, so by now I know what matters to her. She’s a first-time buyer, a new doctor with a schedule that makes mine look leisurely, young, single and not particularly interested in spending her precious free time maintaining a house that requires the attention of a small grounds crew. She wants low maintenance. She wants a particular area. And she has some definite opinions about architecture and character. This isn’t a unicorn, but it also isn’t something that shows up everyday either.

This new listing, however, checked an awful lot of boxes. I scheduled the showing for 2:00 the following afternoon. It was the soonest she could be available to see it. Merely hours away from the time it popped on the market. The showing request was immediately approved.

The first thing the next morning, I called the listing agent. There were a few basic things I wanted to know before we toured the property, questions I already knew my client would ask because, after spending a couple of months looking at houses together, I have learned a few things about her, besides the fact that she can spot ugly flooring from approximately three blocks away. There was no answer. I left a voicemail and followed up with a text asking him to please call when he had a minute.

By 1:30, I was driving to the property to meet my client. I still hadn’t heard anything from the agent. I called again. No answer. I texted again. Nothing. Apparently, my phone and his were not on speaking terms. When I arrived at the listing, my client was there. We spent about 45 minutes going through it. And, as expected, she liked it. I would dare share she even loved it. She did have a couple of questions about the mechanics, but assuming the answers were copacetic, she was ready to write an offer.

As we walked out of the house, I sat in my car and tried the listing agent again. No answer. I sent another text, this time making the situation pretty clear: My client wants to submit an offer. Please call me. Nothing. So I continued my jaunt back to my office. I sat at my desk and pulled up the listing on the MLS to print out so I could start writing the offer. Except the listing was gone. That’s right. It just wasn’t on the MLS any longer. Perhaps I entered something incorrectly. I was searching for active listings with the address. I searched again. Again…nothing. So I changed the search parameters and there it was. It was posted as under contract. Upon further investigation, I learned the status of the listing had been changed just 20 minutes earlier. Not to sound snarky (or perhaps to sound exactly that), let me recap.

The house hit the MLS at 9:15 the previous night. We had an approved showing immediately for the following afternoon. I had attempted to contact the listing agent multiple times before and after that showing. I had specifically told him we wanted to write an offer. Before my buyer could even get one submitted, the property was under contract. The listing hadn’t even survived a full 24 hours.

Now, in the seller’s defense, they are absolutely allowed to accept an offer whenever they choose. If someone walks in five minutes after the listing goes live and offers enough money to make the seller dance around the kitchen, that seller can certainly say yes. Yet the question I couldn’t stop thinking about was this: Was accepting an offer that quickly actually in the seller’s best interest? Maybe it was. Maybe the offer was spectacular. Maybe it was all cash, well above asking, no contingencies and a promise to name the firstborn child after the seller. I really don’t know. What I do know is that there was at least one other serious buyer who had toured the home, with permission, and wanted to write an offer and the list agent knew or at least would have known had he looked at his cellular telephone device, which is practically sewn to the inside of every Realtor’s hand. The reality is, if my buyer was interested, chances are she wasn’t the only one.

One of the primary reasons sellers put homes on the MLS is exposure. You are putting the property in front of a large pool of buyers and their agents, hoping the market will tell you what the house is worth – which is exactly what happens. Sometimes the market speaks quietly. Sometimes it starts throwing money at you. But you have to give it a chance to speak.

When a desirable property is listed and immediately scooped up, there is always the possibility that the seller left something on the table. Another buyer might have offered more money, better terms, a larger earnest-money deposit, fewer contingencies or a better closing date.

Or maybe not. But once you’ve accepted an offer, you’ve dramatically reduced your opportunity to find out. I’m not suggesting every seller needs to turn the sale of a house into a weeklong episode of The Bachelor, with buyers lined up on the driveway hoping to receive a rose. There is such a thing as waiting too long. But would 24 hours be unreasonable? Personally, I don’t think so.

In a situation where a property immediately generates interest, giving buyers even one full day to see the home and submit offers seems reasonable. Perhaps there is a bigger conversation here. Perhaps properties listed on the MLS should have some sort of minimum active-marketing period before an offer can be accepted. Like 24 hours?

You know me, I’m not one for another rule. Real estate already has a fair share of rules, forms, disclosures and initials to keep several forests employed. But I do think sellers should have this conversation with their agents before the house ever hits the market. Perhaps these sellers did. I’ll never know. Even after the fact, I never received a return phone call.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com