Your prep calendar should match how quickly homes are moving.
You are deciding when to list and how fast you need to be ready once you hit the market. In Schenectady, NY, I set seller timelines around the typical time it took homes to sell in the most recently reported month.
If you only remember one data point from January 2026, make it this a typical sale took 17 days in Schenectady, NY. In that same January 2026 window, supply was 0.96 months and offers landed about 100.62% of asking. Some metrics were not reported for this period. The practical impact is that you do not get a long runway to "see what happens" after you go live, because the market pace reported for January 2026 is fast enough that the first showing window matters. Front-load your work so you can launch clean, because January 2026 shows a 17-day typical sale timeline in Schenectady, NY. Pick your list date only after photos, access plan, and disclosures are ready to support strong early traffic. Price with discipline from day one, since January 2026 shows offers landing around 100.62% of asking, not a market where you can float a high number and negotiate later.
