Should You Stay or Should You Go?

We always advise our clients that they should not be home when their house is being shown.  We do this for the obvious reasons.  The first being that I don't want them to be uncomfortable having people walking through their home.   The second is that we don't want them to be put in an unforeseen position such as being questioned by a showing agent or the potential buyers.  The third and most important reason is that buyers get really self-conscious in the presence of homeowners. 

I think the main reason that they feel this way is that they know, on some level, that they are judging the sellers home and don't want to be over heard being critical about the home.  They don't want to be perceived as judging the home even though that really is the point of a showing.  They don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  And weren't we all raised to be polite in another person's home?  It doesn't matter who the seller is.  I've seen Grandmotherly types watching TV in the den, I've seen moms with sleeping babies upstairs, heck I've even scared a few teenagers who forgot we were coming.  The results are always the same.  The buyers become quiet, self conscious, and their main thought becomes, "We've got to get out of here.  We are intruding."  So we go through the home to quickly and inevitably, they can hardly remember the home later.  They also worry that if we schedule a second showing the same thing will happen again.

You want to be away for showings so that the buyers feel free to talk to each other as they go through without fearing being overheard.  They need the opportunity to compare your home to other homes they have seen and talk about what they like and don't like.  They feel like intruders while you're home because when they go through a house they are not only looking to see if it is a house that they would want to live in.  They are also playing amateur detective as they walk through the home.  Looking at photos, noticing items in the closets that might catch their eye, and creating a story of why you are selling your home.  Everybody does it, it's just human nature.  Giving them the time in private to openly talk and compare is the best way for them to assimilate details and remember your home.  When you allow buyers some alone time to really get to know your home, you're really giving yourself a better opportunity to sell your home.