Do not be home when they arrive at all! 

I recently showed a home that my buyer wrote an offer on.  All I needed was one look deep into the sellers face and the whole story was written there.  We offered low with many demands, very little negotiating and the home went into escrow.  That cost the seller almost $20k in concessions that we may not have otherwise asked for. 

Mr & Mrs Seller, I am a human lie detector, I can read people in a short glance, you do not want to be home when I am showing your property.  I guarantee it will cost you a lot of money if my client writes the offer.   

Laurie - Wasn't that human lie detector line from Robert DeNiro in Meet the Fockers?

It's so true that it can cost the seller money, not just in negotiating, but in additional time on the market.  Time is money.

Great post. Yes, yes, sellers need to be GONE. No where in sight and no where to be heard.

Carolin Benjamin
Bob and Carolin Benjamin
The Benjamin Team
Keller Williams Integrity First Realty
Gold Canyon Arizona

It's the truth do tell your sellers to step out . Sometimes sellers think they are helping but they are not. It is actually making the sale of their home take longer.  Great post.

Kaushi-Nuff said!  Sellers dont be home!

When Laurie tells you she can read faces believe her.. I always tell sellers to leave or go outside. An anxious seller will always lose money from talking too much.. the minute you tell me about your divorce or the new home you just bought or the fact that you have to be in --- by Tuesday means we will never offer full price..  

Laurie - Agreed on not being home at all!  In certain, rare, really short notice situations, I can understand the seller not being able to leave and 'roughing it' in the backyard or garage.  But...maybe they should just rough it by taking a walk around the block!

Marlene - Time is definitely money!  Too many forget that....

Bob + Carolin - I sometimes wonder if its the bad agent who doesn't advise the seller to leave, or if its the seller who is just being too obstinate....

Julio - Or in the rare cases where the seller 'reveals their hand' it may make the home sell faster :)

David + Tonya - Agreed!

Kaye - Absolutely.  A wise agent like Laurie can pick up on A LOT!

I Couldn't agree with you more, Kaushik.  Nothing kills a sale like sellers hovering over you to be "helpful". 

Laurie, good comment, sometimes the sellers' faces and attitudes conveys so much that it costs them money.  Often it just conveys the feeling that they're afraid to leave you alone or you'll steal the silverware.  Usually it just drives the buyers (and me) away.

I once took an older couple into a rancher whose back yard abutted a vast church lawn in the rear.  The seller followed us around, showing my couple how they could make use of the church grounds like it was their own.  The couple passed on the house because they didn't want a large yard to mow!

Sellers think they know their house better than anyone else.  What they don't realize is they don't know the BUYER like the agent does. 

I agree...it's awkward for agents to talk open and honestly with the sellers around the corner.  How do you comment on HIDEOUS PAINT that will have to be replace immediately with them standing there or within ears reach in the next room???!!!

I had one on Sunday.  We began making negative comments in the kitchen and then remembered that the sellers were in the living room. Then they asked why we didn't take time to see the backyard.   I've become very blunt lately.  I just quickly tell them that this home just isn't going to work for my folks.  If they persist and ask why, I will tell them exactly why.

It is rare that I find a seller home in our local Hilton Head real estate market.  The last time it happened, I was fortunate enough to meet one of the nicest ladies ever.  I think it is difficult for buyers to view a home when the buyers are there.

I always tell my sellers not to be home!! It is the worse thing they could do and they think that being there they can answer questions and be helpful- NO NO NO!

I also try to explain which usually this works well- if the sellers are home during a showing, it is very hard for the buyers to imagine the home being theirs. The buyers need that space to get the feel of the home on their own terms and have the chance to ask questions to their agent without feeling confidentiality could be broken because of something overheard by the sellers.

Go away sellers.  Go away.  My people need room to discuss the biggest investment they have ever made.  They want to talk about where the furniture will go and how small the kitchen is so they will knock a wall out or add on some square footage. They want to talk about changing that hideous carpet.  They don't want to whisper or be gaurded.  They need room for a private discussion amongst themselves.  

Very important information.  It's hard sometimes in homes with lots of children and/or pets to pick up and leave when prospective buyers are scheduled to visit.  Especially when we know that there are a certain number of appointments that are not kept. 

One reason a home doesn't make the "list" is because the buyers can't discuss the home while the owners are hovering around, or even on the premises.  Without discussing the home, they will probably not even remember it.

Kaushik...You know who else should not be home unless requested? . . . The listing broker!  Just like a seller, I have had more listing agents blow the showing with inane chatter and a forced tour ("this is the kitchen").  Most of my buyer clients, especially those who are relocating, would prefer the listing agent NOT be present.  If they like the house, they can schedule a second showing and request his/her presence.

Regards...Jay Burnham

I couldn't agree more! Be gone, gone, gone! I was showing a beautiful home a few weeks back (3 showings to the same buyers) and the homeowner either wouldn't leave, or leave for 5 minutes and come back. At my 3rd showing my buyers looked at the seller and asked if he came with the home!!!  I thought it was hysterical! He was a nice guy, but was very annoying and my buyers ended up buying a home down the street from him. I told the listing agent that he really needed to tell him to not be home and he said that he was just anxious about people being in his home. I guess he really wants to take a long time to sell...

Such a good point, Kaushik. I think the seller being at home is often the kiss of death. It makes me uncomfortable as the agent, but I have had more buyers than I can count who comment on it, tour through the home so fast they cannot even see it or simply decide to leave. The worst is the seller who follows you around, either offering tidbit of information or simply watching as you tour every room. I always tell my seller clients that they should NOT be there when potential buyers are touring for this very reason.

Jeff

Kaushik - this is a great reminder to sellers just what their presence at showings can really mean to the buyer and to the potential sale (or not) of their home.   As Virginia wrote, this is a huge investment for many buyers and they want to be able to talk freely, and actually SEE the house.  With a hovering seller, that just can't happen.

It's all about setting expectations right from the start.  Sellers need to be told what they can and cannot expect, and what they can and should not do during the whole process.  I never have a seller stay home for showings because they know before we even put it on the market what that can cost them.  Of course there are rare times when a seller can't leave, but they then just go outside or for a walk or to the garage or somewhere....anywhere but inside the house while the showing is going on.

Good post!
Ann

It makes the buyers VERY uncomfortable to have the sellers present during a showing.  Not only do they not speak their mind about what they really think, but they rush through the home because they feel they are intruding and want to get out of the way.  Needless to say, those houses sit on the market longer than they have to.

You are correct of course. Common sense seems less common these days. We once didn't buy a house because the owner said something to the effect that the floods had seldom effected the house. We hadn't thought about water rushing through the property until that moment. Seldom is not the same as Never.

Kaushik, my friend,   you are absolutely right,  I hate that when I show homes, my clients really hate that too, I look their faces with a grimace, even we do not feel ok to have a good showing, also let me tell you something, when you show a home you would like to smell the home with a nice scent, that makes a totally different home,  just with a really good scent it changes the whole guacamole and enchilada thing (scenario). you enjoy to explain very well the home, features, etc.  I have been on homes with very disgusting smells, things not in place ( a lot of cluttler, disorder ).  Even when the home it is not the best good looking home, if there are sellers inside or bad smells, you get away so quickly from that home, even I have not entered on some homes that you perceive the bad smell when you open a door, that's cruel and maybe funny, but true and bad for our clients.

good blog my friend !!!!

I agree with you about 99% of the time. But I have had a couple of times when the seller did end up answering some off-the-wall questions for some off-the-wall buyers, that ended up closing the sale. However, those sellers were definitely not hovering or pushing. They were sitting quietly on the back porch, or standing at the corner of the front yard talking to neighbors while their little dog wandered around. 

And vice versa Kaushik!! People don't want to show their hands... they want to see their furniture in the room but they can't feel comfortable raving about a place - not just ranting...

the other reason to get the seller our for a listing agent is just that even the tidbits can create issues.

I was on a commercial deal with my client and we were walking through a property with the lender.  The owner was still running his business there so it was inevitable we'd run into someone... well... the lender was poking around and noticed some water stain on ceiling tiles.   A big no no in residential but commercial is a different beast... so they said something to each other about it and an employee chimed in, "Yeah!  We fixed that last week... went up there and ______ to it - it ain't gonna leak again!!"

WELL... a) that was unpermitted work b) that was unlicensed/bonded work c) that was structural work that the condo association should have addressed, not the owner.

Yep not a good idea, and I would say that even a worst idea is for the Seller to be present for the home inspection.

Brian - 'hovering' is the absolute worst!

Susie - Nail on head, it can be very awkward!

Tim - Often, without being rude, blunt is the best way to go....

Diane - Agreed.

Maureen - Excellent way of describing the situation to your clients!

Virginia - Privacy, of the thoughts of the prospective buyers is very important!

Lenn - Agreed that it can be difficult for some folks to just up and leave.  But those folks should at least try to go to the backyard or garage or something.

Jay - Excellent point!  Honestly, I've never experienced that before in all my showings.  But it certainly does happen....

Kaushik,

It's an old story that never dies. Some sellers get so caught up in the sales process by hanging around during showings that they end up making it double difficult. How about having a clause in the listing contract on that?

Sellers can say too much. I don't know why they'd want to be there. One slip could mean money out the door like Laurie said.

Kaushik,

I ask all my sellers to be gone. Don't leave when the buyers arrive - be gone before that! Yet, I hear now & then that a slip-up occured, and the sellers met the buyers, talked turkey, and have the details all worked out. Rarely is this the case, but the "movement" on terms & price has already happened - before the offer was even written! The buyers & sellers "talking" reminds me that "oral is immoral" - in contracts, that is!