Home : Blogs : Miriam Bernstein,Westchester County Real Estate : Westchester Real Estate Blog on Active Rain

You Are Late!

I have been busy with showings. I do my best to judge the amount of time each buyer will take in a property and plan accordingly. What I can't plan is if the buyer gets stuck in traffic and is late. Or if the baby sitter doesn't arrive when they said they would and that makes the buyer late. Or if they get a flat tire on the way. We agents do our best but things happen that are out of our control.

It would be nice if we could call each home owner and explain we will be late but by the time the buyer arrives we can't sit in our car with our buyer and call a multitude of offices and ask them to call each homeowner and explain that we will be late because by the time we do that we will be later. Some of the offices are better than others, some aren't even open on Saturday afternoons anymore.

It would be nice if seller's understood we are doing our best and we can't always be on time. It can be annoying to have a house on the market for sale but it is the only way to get the job done. Please be patient and cut us some slack. Thank you.

    Miriam Bernstein can be reached at 914-907-1922
    Twitter
    Westchester County Real Estate Blog
    Search the Westchester County Multiple Listing Service

    914-907-1922
    Twitter
    Westchester County Real Estate Blog
    Search the Westchester County Multiple Listing Service

Posted by Miriam Bernstein,Westchester County Real Estate on 05/26/2009 05:22 AM

Comments (84)

Showing Property in the Home Selling Channel

selling, buyers, showings

84 Comments on You Are Late!

MAY

Mariam, you are right, some things can't be helped. The first time you take a buyer out you never know if they are going to look in every nook and cranny or just open the door and say, "No."

I was late a few weeks ago,looking at 12 homes this buyer looked everywhere.

The seller opened the door as we were getting out of the car.

"your late, he said.

I apologized and we went in. But, it was rude and was offensive to my buyer.

Oh I forgot we were 15 minutes late.

I made an appointment last week from 1-2pm and at 2pm I got a call "where are you?" the buyer's get annoyed and turned off to a house because of the seller's behaviour they get side tracked.

MAY

I've heard lectures from listing agents about buyers not showing up or late to arrive for an appointment to tour a home for years and years. It is not unusual to try to call to cancel and not get any answer at a property or office. We're also on a cell and that is not reliable.

What's the matter with folks? We're not making one appointment to tour a home. We're usually making 3, 5, 7 appointments to tour several homes.

There is no physical way a buyer and their agent can arrange precise appointments to tour homes.

I came to the conclusion years ago that folks complain about this just to complain. Poor home seller, they waited an hour and no one showed. They were at home for goodness sake. Far too many sellers and their agents believe that they are doing buyers and their agents a favor by permitting us in their homes listed for sale. If you expect to sell it, you've got to show it.

Poor home seller, the buyer show up 1/2 hour late, we're furious. Hey seller, you're very fortunate that my buyers are in traffic, missing lunch to look at your stinking home with dog poop in the back yard.

Want to complain about buyers not keeping appointments? Hey, we can complain about some of the conditions we find when we do get there.

Just stop complaining and let's get some homes sold.

Miriam, It does happen every once in a while but I do show up, even if a bit late. In this market, every showing is an opportunity that shouldn't be passed up. Rich

When a seller does this, the only thing they accomplish is to put off the buyer. I've never sold a home to someone in those circumstances. I never schedule showings at precise time anymore- I schedule them in ranges- 1-2pm, etc.

Lenn amen!

Philip, ranges don't help, sellers are complainers anyway

Rich, tell that to the sellers'

Missy, man you need a tuff skin in this business!

Miriam- I feel your pain. I have started to schedule 2 hour windows. There is so much inventory that usually I have a cluster of homes to show.

Miriam, here we can call the seller directly for the appointment, if the seller is at home, I say Would you like me to call when we are 15 minutes out today, since we have a ton of homes before yours? Most are appreciative of that and it has worked out well. If a seller is at work, YEAH, no problem.

Everone needs to remember that showings are far from an exact science, and that includes sellers and their agents.

It is simply a matter of respect and as a Realtor in charge. .you should instill the seriousness of showing at the right time.

To me it makes no sense for the seller to complain. Your bringing a potential BUYER to their home that is FOR SALE! I know we humans like to complain about anything we can, don't we?

I think Lenn's comment summed it up. LOL ! I love it. I agree, the bottom line is that sellers should be thankful that there are showing appointments for the property. People will get there as fast as they can. I tell our seller clients that no-shows are just a part of the process or sometimes people will arrive late. I do agree though for a seller to be a little upset that if the buyer agent has known for awhile that their appointment is cancelled, they should make a courtesy call to cancel. Other times, it just is what it is... Nice discussion !

I try to call ahead if I am going to be late.

It can be crazy stressfull though to arrange and rearrange because you are doing it while driving with the buyers in the car. Sometimes if they are "long lookers" and it is our first time I am able to rearrange the time while they are "looking."

I try to have both the office number and the listing agents number for each listing so I will be able to do everything within my power to let sellers know if we are going to be late. If I am NOT able to rearrange via phone, I believe my approach at the front door... apologizing profusely seems to get us in the front door and smooth ruffled feathers. I have a pretty good system with time ranges but the "long lookers" can really, really mess that up if we are trying to look at a number of homes.

I love that many of the homes in the Columbus market are scheduled through a service and they have more generous hours than real estate offices.

You're never going to be able to keep everyone happy. I wish I could control everything and be able to call ahead to every home on the tour in order to tell them exactly when we will be there, but I'm not superman. My main focus is to keep my buyer happy.

I try hard to stay as close to schedule as possible but you are so right, it's impossible to be precise. I think a big part of the solution is with the listing agent. When we list a property we need to explain to sellers how the showing system works. Almost no buyers look at one home, so unless yours is first on the schedule, there must be some flexibility. But some people will complain not matter what so don't let it get to you. Just keep being as polite and considerate as possible.

Miriam

I feel your pain! As hard as we try we will occassionally be late. I apoligize and ask if we can see the home. It's life. Trying to schedule eight showings and factoring in the traffic and how much time a buyer may take in each home. Then add to that putting on booties and taking off on showings.

Dennis

That first time you take folks out can be pretty tough. You are trying to manage the timing as best you can. Some will say, lets not even bother going in this one, others will tour the entire home even though it's not to their liking. I try to find out up front how folks will tour, but, well, you know Lol...

Humans just complain...sometimes too much, or for the wrong reasons. Sellers should be grateful that there are potential buyers who do want to preview their home.

This is part of why I DO love CSS, a national showing service. You can call one # and they will call all of the sellers to let them know!

I used to hate the service, and yes they mess up at times, but it is SO convenient -- I wish all of our offices would switch over!

Miriam,

We tell sellers not to be home duriing showings, so they may be waiting to go somewhere, trying to keep the kids from dragging toys out, delaying meal preparation, sitting around in their undies - whatever. They cannot relax at home while waiting for me to show.

I set appointments with a window - 30 to 45 minutes. If my buyers arrive late, I will rearrange the order and ask one of the sellers to agree to reschedule - often moving the second or third stop to the last one. I feel it would be wrong of me to keep the entire roster waiting.

I am going to chime in with the unpopular side of being the person with the home for sale.

Home sellers understand that people may be late or may not show at all but in our last relo I had a two year old who napped, and a husband who was gone to his new job during the week. I always tried to be out of the house but it's unrealistic of agents to think that all homeowners should be gone during all available showing hours.

The relo before that I had an infant. Fortunately for me both of our homes sold the first week on the market. But there was lots and lots of stress with moving a family across the states and upsetting everyone's routine, trying to keep the house spotless with little ones, laundry etc. I was wiped out even before the next day started!!!

Any upset to our schedules can turn even the best person into a complainer.

Now I am going to duck!!!!!

I pretty much do what Irene does.

When I show homes I have a window for each, and I am making certain that the seller is not home to hover over my buyers, this normally makes for a very uncomfortable situation for the buyer.

Bettina

I think that being late no less than 30 minutes due to 'life' deserves flexibility from sellers. They should be happy their houses are being shown.

Sometimes things get a bit hectic when you have a lot on your plate. But part of your job is to manage your time effectively so that you come across as a professional and not as a "fly by nighter". This profession does not need hobbyists.

Even when i am early my buyers might run behind or they might really like a house and God forbid want to look at it longer. it is a tough balance. sometimes i am pretty impressed that i am still married my wife is a saint. it sucks to have to make the dad will be late for dinner because these buyers want to look more. at least the these buyers want to write an offer makes it feel a lot better!

There are so many factors out of our control when we plan to show a number of homes. If the buyer is late arriving to the office, I'll call myself and let the other offices know I'm running late. If something delays us last minute, I'll ask the girls at the front desk to please call for me. If, on the other hand, the buyers take forever in each and every home or linger a very long time in one, causing us to be behind schedule, there's often little I can do other than apologize to the homeowner when we get there. In a market like this, sellers should be grateful for the showings they have.

On the first round with buyers I try to schedule extra time in between showings because I don't know what kind of observers they are. They may linger for 20 minutes on one and 5 minutes on the next. If it gets crazy I always try to reach the listing Realtor to make sure it is still okay. Interspersing some unoccupied homes is a good idea too, because if you run ahead of schedule by a lot, then you can go to those homes to balance the time.

In my little corner of the world, common courtesy and respect smooths the rough spots. When I make an appointment and can't make it on time, I call. I always give seller a range and ask if that's convenient. If we're slower than expected, I tell my clients I'm going to call the sellers who are waiting for us. They understand, because they'd expect the same consideration. And when an offer is presented, the positive impression we've made gives my client an edge.

Miriam, this is a great post and something that sellers need to read! We do our best to keep to a schedule, but when showing numerous homes it is impossible to gauge it perfectly!

when working with new buyers (whom I've not shown before) I ask them to meet me at my office about a half hour prior to our first showing. If they're late, we just jump out directly to the first showing... If they arrive on time, or early, it gives us a half an hour to sit and talk about expectations and what our day will be like.

I usually allocate about 3-4 properties per hour, and allow at least a half hour window for each showing. If I find I'm running late I always call the listing from the car to make sure that it's still okay to show.

If I'm late, I always call. I explain why it's important to the buyers, and take the time to do it. If the office isn't open, I call the listor's phone. They hardly ever answer, but at least I can tell the seller, "I did call".

Thanks for sharing! I so enjoy working as a buyer's agent and you just never know how the appts will work out. Most of the time all works out great!! I enjoyed reading everyone's comments on how they handle things. Best Wishes to all :)

I guess I am on the less popular side as well, Miriam (solidarity with home seller Kim, I guess). There is serious stress involved in making sure the house is up to snuff before a buyer comes by (especially if you own pets or have small children). If homeowners can deal with a cable company's timetable (you know the drill, "I'll be there sometime between noon and next week"), then they should be able to deal with a 2 hour window. If you're going to be later than that, a phone call would be nice. I know Realtors are busy folk. Perhaps making sure you have the phone number of the seller before you show the house would be a good idea. Now, I'll duck, too.

By the way, I do understand that there is no excuse for a seller to be rude. If they want to sell their home, they have to understand that stuff happens, even if they've been left to wait.

Excellent heads up for listing agents that making very clear the pressure put on those with buyers needs latitude for cooperating brokers, from anxious sellers. $&*# happens!

I do try to call ahead to advise the listing office or agent when I am running behind schedule even by a few minutes. I start with the first listing when I am in the car. And, call others while the buyers are looking at the first property. Of course, that's assuming I can get in touch with each listing office or LA. As a listing agent, I prep sellers to expect delays and no-shows.

Ellie if I try to schedule two hours I am told to narrow it down.

Gail, calling the seller directly now that's a new one - don't think so in these parts

Fernando, you are tuff. It just isn't possible and does not indicate unprofessionalism

Laurie, it certainly does.

Heather, I am not talking about a cancellation on one house but multiple appts where it is just reasonible to think we can call each home owner with the buyer in the car.

Josetta, if I am calling 15 offices and they aren't there and then I call the listing agent and have to leave messages that's 30 phone calls with the buyer sitting in the car - do you really?

Joe, interspersing vacant properties is a great idea and I do that as well when I can

Marnie, I love CSS too. It is wonderful to call one number and ask them to call all of the home owners a out being late - problem is not everyone uses it which they understood.

Carol, I want to be with my buyers while they look at a house in order to answer questions or open closet doors for them not on the phone.

In my opinion, Maureen's post above is worth repeating:

"I try to call ahead if I am going to be late.

I try to remember that many sellers are in some sort of stressful situation. We never know how many Realtors ahead of us have cancelled, left doors unlocked, not bothered to call at all, etc. We may be dealing with sellers that are "fed up" with being treated in a rude manner. Several years ago, a seller called me and she was very upset. Apparently a Realtor showed up at her door, wanting to show her home (without having called first). When the seller explained that she had a sick child in bed and needed time (and could the Realtor possibly come at another time?), the Realtor said, "Do you want to sell your home or not?" My seller was tempted to pull the listing off the market after that.

I try very hard to call if I feel like I'll be delayed. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with a seller whose home I may be writing up later that day.

It is hard to plan exact times.. things change along the way. Some times we have adjust our times..

I deal with this issue by meeting buyers at my office. I generally arrange to talk with them for about an hour or so before we go out. That way, if they are late, I shorten our session. This keeps me on schedule. I also have 2 showing times -- the time I give the seller, which is usually an hour window, and my "real" time that lets me know if I don't leave House A by X time, I won't get to House B on schedule. I also map the time between homes -- I'm so anal about this. As a result, I am very rarely, if ever, late.

Miriam, it certainly seems that it should be acceptable to make a 2 hour window, to promote understaning on both sides of the equation and to be considerate and apologetic when things don't work out as planned... But perhaps reasonableness is not reasonable in this case?

Miriam...

I give them a four hour window. If they need more precise times, I tell them that I won't be able to properly serve my buyer and the alternative is to take their house off of the list. That usually works!

Hi Miriam, I have found that if you tell the listing office it is o.k. for the seller to wait in the home until I arrive - and then they must leave - it helps a lot.

I'll never forget the frosty reception we got from a seller when I showed up with the buyers.....SEVEN MINUTES LATE.

The guy gave us dirty looks the entire time. You could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.

The buyers didn't buy that home. And until that seller gets himself some manners, I'm hoping he gets to keep his house for a long time to come.

York County Pennsylvania here!

I always ask for a two hour window. If they can't/won't accommodate that I just trouble shoot and rearrange the day, so that those homes are put 1st or on a different day. Calling the listing agent usually seems to work best. Their the ones that have the relationship with their sellers, who better to explain the importance of showings and being available.

Miriam, I just had a seller tell me that they want a direct call 10 minutes before the agent arrives because the buyers have been late for the last 3 appts made on weekends and office is not open. Makes sense

Being late within reason is acceptable in my book. Things happen and being on time exactly is somewhat unreasonable I think. I always tell other agents to look for me within a 15-20 minute time window just in case. Most people are understatnding.

Patricia Aulson/Portsmouth NH Real Estate

When I call to make my appointments I tell the seller that we have XX homes to see - we are starting at X:am and they are number 4 house on the list. I tell them that we would appreciate that they vacate the home for the showing but that can be done once we arrive if they wish. If they would like me to call them when we are on our way to their house I get the number they want used for that purpose. No one can ever say I am late - has worked fine for me. If a seller shows any type of resistance to my schedule or wanting to pn me down I always tell them that I could show their home on its own sometime next week if we don't find the home to purchase today. It usually changes their attitude.

This post makes me feel fortunate that I,m in a small town,four stop lights. We can drive anywhere in less than 10 minutes. I have always wondered about big towns with traffic. Thanks for shedding some light on it.

Just all part of things to deal with :)

It happens, selling your home is not always easy and putting up with late showings is one of those problems. That is why you price it right and get it ready to show, then you won't have to deal with it very long.

Miriam - I always call an appointment to be courteous to the homeowner if we are going to be late. Especially if the homeowner is waiting for us. But of course it is usually Lisa and I in the same car also so one of us can do that call. I'm not crazy about driving and talking at the same time. I've never been a good multitasker....

[Michael sez: That is why you price it right and get it ready to show, then you won't have to deal with it very long.]

Bingo! :)

Long window of time commensurate with the distance/remoteness of property (if one property is far from the others).

Mix vacants and occupieds (usually a couple of vacants first showings to make sure there is time to call/rearrange).

If late or cancelling, call!

And kill with kindness. We NEED that seller to like us.

It is easy to blame Realtors but we cant control this market. We are effected by it just like everyone else.

I do the hour range scheduling too...show it between 1pm-2pm for example. That has worked pretty good and rarely have I ever been late.

I understand that it can be frustrating for the seller to put their life on hold for a showing. They want to sell their home, but sometimes it's tough to juggle kids, dinner, pets and a showing. Personally as a seller, I wouldn't be upset if they were late, just upset if they never showed or called.

We're all in this together with the same goal in mind. Everyone just needs to play good and be respectful. When plans don't go as we want, we just need to roll it off our shoulders and move on.

I hear ya! I worked a few years ago primarily as a buyer agent and ran into this a lot. I worked with about 50% second home buyers who were often times driving in from 200-500 miles away and we had to be flexible. The other thing that has been mentioned is you never know if they are going to waste time looking at every property even when they know from the first glance that it isn't for them. Some will say no and you move on and others go "we can't live here...let's go look!!!" Kills me, but I work for them. :o)))

Miriam, even with the looking at a string of four or five houses in a row with buyers it is difficult to manage the time of arrival.

Well said Miriam, there are a mulititude of things that take place when showing a home & if sellers understood it would make our jobs easier! Kristin

Sometimes it is very difficult to stay on time. What about traffic, road blocks, clients taking more time in one house than another, and sometimes getting lost? We do the best we can and then call if we will be late.

If my buyers really like a property, they spend some time checking it out. Sometimes they know right away they are not interested and do not spend much time in that property at all. I keep my eye on the clock. If running behind, I have to make the calls to everybody and leave messages right there in front of my buyer. It sends a message and I still have my bases covered. It takes time but I have run into a few angry sellers.

I make every effort to be on time and as you say it sometimes does not work out. If so I also make every effort to inform the home owners if we will be late or not able to show that day. I will do it in front of the buyer and tell them it's my way of being courteous and would hope that an agent would do the same for my them too!

BTW I try and never show more than 8 houses at a time, after that, they all run together and hopefully I have previewed enough homes in advance to skip anything that might have a big NO after previewing!

I spent so much time trying to map out my route and add in the travel time to adequately gage arrival time and still give a window. It is hard to know how long new customers need to look at a house. I like Miriam's idea of rearranging one property. I can also say tell the new customer who likes to look at EVERYTHING this is our 1st go-around and when we come back to see the top 3 favorites, we can look in detail.

I don't schedule specific showing times, but try to work within a 2-4 hour window. Most sellers understand that the buyer is looking at more than one home, and are agreeable to it.

Being late for a showing does happen. I can't stand it when I realize I am going to be late for a showing because I know then that I am going to be late for all the showings that follow. As you said, for me to stop, make the phone calls will simply add another 20 minutes to my being late. When I set showings for my buyers, one of the first things I cover with them when we first meet is the showing process and how I schedule showings to get them inside every home they want to see. If they are late to begin with, we probably won't be able to see all the homes on our list.

I show so many vacant homes now it almost does not matter. I try to do the occupied homes first so we make the time slot.

To All, I am trying to comment on each comment and honestly don't have the time. I appreciate all of the comments and have found it really interesting at all the ways we all handle appointments. I hope you will al forgive me with this general answer to all your comments. Thank you and I hope you are all enjoying it too.

Unfortunately, we can't contro everything. I just try to stay in contact with both parties.

I know what you mean. More often than not, I find myself sitting in my car just waiting for buyers to show. One time I sat in my car for over an hour- I finally had to hit up a starbucks to find something cool to drink. Good luck!

I like this post Miriam, I say with a smile on my face. You have to keep a sense of humor in this business. You seem to be a considerate Realtor, and do your best to be a responsive and responsible professional. The goal is to sell the house, it's important to keep it in perspective. Anger and pettiness won't get the job done! Keep up the good work.

I usually schedule occupied first and give a one hour window, but if I am seeing more than 5 homes, I will do a 2 hr. window. It's all about doing what you can. Sometimes it is unavoidable to be late.

I am usually pretty good with my scheduling, but like others have said, the first time you take buyers out, you don't know if they will fly through the house, or take a half an hour. I think it is worse when you are running early!

We hear the same things, but the norm in my area is for the agent to call the Seller directly to set the appointment. One of the things that I love about this is I can also call back and say "SORRY! We got stuck behind a tractor and whatever, will be half hour late."

In pre-response to all the sputters of indignation that buyer agents actually speak with sellers, it works just fine. 3/4 of the time we leave a voicemail and the instructions are Call Then Show. So we show. No fuss.

Our listing information also includes the direct line for the agent. So if am going to be late, and I don't actually connect to the seller, I then call the agent and ask them to let the Seller know.

There are some nearby counties where we have to make appointments through the office and I have to say its a pain in the butt. I guess that about 25% of the showings I try to schedule aren't allowed. I personally think it is a barrier to showings.

I think this should be added to the List of things sellers should never do.......they should never complain when someone looks at their house........even if they are 4 hours late. They should be glad someone is looking and be as accomodating as possible!

Nice Post!

We have had this happen and the owner was home and sooo rude to the would be buyer -- definite turn off and it was unavoidable that we were late to begin with.

I gotta quote Lenn: "Hey seller, you're very fortunate that my buyers are in traffic, missing lunch to look at your stinking home with dog poop in the back yard."LOL!!!

We don't have the seller home when we show thankfully...so we just hear, "You didn't leave a card...turn off the obscure light with no discernible switch...etc..." Please sellers, this is hard enough. Have a heart!

Makes you wonder if they really want to sell, doesn't it?

Miriam, I'm with Richard Weisser...I contact the listing agent on the day prior and give a 3-4 hour window depending upon the number of properties. I have encountered sellers calling me back directly to determine a more precise time,however, I can only give my range. In this market, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE for us to give a precise time to show properties....especially when you have some REO's on your tour list for the day. I've had buyers drive up to the front of a property and then determine that they don't want to go in at all AND I've had buyers bond with a home and take almost an hour to tour and really give it a good gander. Am I going to rush my buyers???? Heck no!!! They are there to purchase a HOME and I don't expect them to give it a once over. If a seller continues to pressure me for a precise time, I simply tell them that I can remove them from the list if the showing is an inconvenience to them. It's unfortunate, but you're trying to sell your home. The most diligent thing that you can do is to be sure that it's priced right, staged right, and smells right....this way, you won't have to deal with the inconvenience of selling your home for an entire six months.

With the current market, they should be happy we are showing up late... as opposed to NOT showing at all. And I have actually kicked the first house or two on a list to the end in order to be on track for the other homes. That allows me to give more notice on those delayed properties.

House had over 250 days on the market, was overpriced, PTS with 2 hour notice and when I arrived with my clients, there was a teenager in the house. We never made it past the front door. The agent has auto email feedback response.

MAY

Miriam,

Being late is a problem of mine and not because of someone else. Leaving in plenty of time would help me a great deal in this real estate business.

Miriam, It is often quite difficult to set showing appointments and stay within a given time frame, especially our first day out with a buyer. We don't know how long it will take to look at each house. It can be very trying sometimes.

When I show a home I try to give a range instead of an exact time. That way I can try to deflect from being there too late. For the sellers side I try hard to explain to them that it is imperative to stay away from the house while it is being shown. So far so good.

MAY

It seems like this was a hot issue Miriam!! I do try to use ranges of half hours but every now and then I will have a homeowner who is a little tick offed.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?