The Good and Bad On Craig's List.....How to post your ads on Craig's List.....

There are good and bad times for posting your
real estate ads on Craig's List.  Your posting
timing has a big impact on how well your ads
generate leads. 

The reason is your ads are placed at the top
of search results when you post them. 
If someone looks at Real Estate ads at around
the time you post your ad then your ad will be
at or near the top of their search results and
therefore more likely seen.  If someone looks
at Real Estate ads 2-3 hours after you post
your ad then your ad will be buried far down
in the search results and is less likely seen.

It's the same idea as getting a top ranked website
in Google: people are much more likely to view
the top 5 ranked sites than ones listed 2 or 3
pages down. 

For a long time I'd get up early in the morning at
about 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM and post lots of ads
so I could get this task finished and get on with
my day.  It took me a couple of years to realize
most people aren't looking at ads at this time, so
my ad visibility wasn't very good. 

I eventually realized the best time to post ads is
when people are least busy in a typical day.  This
time obviously varies by person, the day of week,
and even by season. 

I've found the best times to
post are lunch time and after dinner. 

So try posting between 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM and
then again between 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM.  In
summer people tend to be out longer since the days
are longer and warmer, so perhaps try posting
between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM in that season.  In
winter try posting a little earlier: between 7:00 PM and
8:00 PM.  You might also try posting between 4:00 PM
and 5:00 PM when the typical 9-5er's day is winding
down and they have some leisure time before leaving
the office.

These are all only rules of thumb.  The best strategy is 
experimenting with different times and see what works
and what doesn't for your target audience.