Real Estate Blog - It is all about access

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It is all about access

In general the present real estate market is favoring the buyers. With this in mind some sellers are doing everything to get their property noticed. Yes, with high inventory the competition is fierce.

So I am still puzzled why some sellers although giving incentives and reducing the price of the listing will then restrict access to the property.

Do you think that if you have a restriction such as 48 hours notice before the property is shown that the buyers will wait around? No way! Look around, there are properties everywhere, you probably have several on your street alone.

How about making the showing fit around a seller's schedule because he or she insists on being present for all showings? That too won't work. Your property will probably be on the market for a long, long time.

How about sellers who will not allow lock-boxes and all showings must be accompanied by the agent? Lets get real! Your property is not the only listing your agent is working with and with the present market conditions listing agents are extremely busy trying to come up with new ideas to move these properties. So, every time a buyers agent calls to see your listing do you think the requested showing time will always fit in with the agent's schedule? No, it won't. Therefore you are foregoing potential buyers.

Access is key; the easier it is to see a property, the quicker you will have it sold.

So, sellers, remember the law of supply and demand. In this case, the supply is great and demand is diminishing. So, like it or not, the buyer is in the driver's seat; so do all you can to help your agent move your property.

Posted by Jennifer Fivelsdal, Fishkill NY on 09/15/2007 08:52 AM

Comments (56)

real estate, sellers, buyers, access, lockboxes, dutchess county real estate

Originally posted at: Rhinebeck Living: It is all about access

This post has been included in New York Information Dutchess County, NY Information

56 Comments on It is all about access

SEP

2007

Great post and information and tips.

Have a super day!!!

Amen, amen, amen! Wonder how these folks expect someone to buy it if they can't see it?

Jennifer, just curious- do you guys have buyer agency where you are as an invited "prospect"? Just curious. The lack of that element, plus a reluctant to show seller, could be the kiss of quiet!

Interesting points, good info. Thanks

That has been my beef for years. I show a lot on Saturdays and Sundays and hate the fact that I cannot get hold access to half the homes in our area during those times because the agents take those days off, or there is no lock-box.

Access....what a novelty... We need access to be able to sell. Drives me crazy when I have to jump through hoops just to show a house!

Jennifer: great post...you must have been trying to get into some of the listings as me. I like this one in particular "showings only after 7PM or on Sunday". That's really convenient for most buyers!!

Jennifer, I have to say I am so grateful I don't work with difficult people. If they want to sell their home, they have to let people IN....simple concept!

Jennifer, we all know that they have the best house on the block, but if Buyers can't get in to see how great their house is, they will move on to the second best house :)

Jennifer, you have hit on one of my pet peeves. I could not show a property this last Saturday because I was showing in the morning and they were only allowing showings after 4:00. I'm thinking it was probably a day sleeper but ON A SATURDAY! I can't believe how hard some sellers make it to show their homes!!!

Cameron - Thank you andI hope you had a great day also.

Leigh - I wish I knew what was going on in their mind.

Laurie -We are big on buyer agency in my area; could you explain the second half of the question I did not know what you meant. Thanks.

Robert - We all have had to confront this issue and sometimes there is no good reason for it.

Dan- This can be one of the frustrating aspect of the profession.

Monika - When you have to jump through hoops; as an agent you lose interest in the house and it certainly won't be at the top of your showing list for another prospect.

Diana- I would not be showing that house, for safety reasons I don't do nights. I also feel the property will not be appreciated in the dark.

Carole - Sad to say some sellers never grasped that concept.

George - I like the way you worded that; you are so right.

Marchel - This is the pet peeve of many agents, it can certainly make the blood pressure go up.

SEP

2007

Jennifer,

Those are some great points that sellers have often overlooked. It's great the way you addressed everything in such a tactful manner.

Hi Jennifer,
It does make you wonder if Sellers just do not get it, doesn't it? I bet lots of Agents would like to hand a copy of this post to their Sellers.

What seems obvious to us may not be so obvious to certain sellers. Advice like yours is too often needed.

Hi, Jennifer- kiss of death seemed too...morbid. It will be a listing with quiet activity. We run into that here as well- sellers that have their own plans, etc. so make showings a bit challenging!

Great post. Sellers want their home sold but still want to control the process by not allowing the property to be opened and such.

Jennifer - thank you for this post - we struggle with helping Sellers understand this too. Price and access are 2 key factors in todays market.

I am just curious. Does all the blame go to the seller? Shouldn't the listing agent "counsel" their clients on what it takes to sell a home, especially in today's market? If the seller has very restictive instructions that will ultimately prolong selling the home, why take the listing.? If sellers are told, "I can't accept the listing" by a couple of agents maybe they will get the picture. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

Jennifer, I hope I don't run into this problem (often) when I start showing properties. But at least I am aware of it now because of this post. Thanks.

It could be that buyers can't readily get the financing as easily as they we're able to before.

Financing is much stricter now than just a few months ago.

Jennifer, great posts and so so true. Congratulations on the feature, girl !!

Your post is so true - acccess is key to caapturing the full power of proper marketing.

This can be very frustrating but I have found it to be less of a problem with electronic lock boxes in place. There is still an occasional oddball though. You should print this and include with your listing presentation. Really drives the point home. Great post.

Hi Jennifer

Great post...WE should print this post out and make it a part of our listing presentation....Now in a changing market we do have to educate the Seller..... so that we can hel pthem reach their goals....

Thanks for the post....

Thanks for the reminder.......I guess I need to have a chat with my seller, again!

Don't you wonder why the small things become more important than the big things? I've had buyers look at their HUD settlement statement and object to a $65 tax service fee while paying $1,000 more in property insurance than they needed to. Go figure.

Let's not forget about the dogs and cats and other creatures that are in homes and removing them to make homes be accessible. Doesn't matter if the words in the listings say "large dog, will not bite" or what, we will not take clients into homes with uncontrolled animals. We do not want to risk people being bitten.

Great post Jennifer--

During a sellers market, I had a seller that wanted to restrict access, owners would be using it every other weekend... we are in a resort market and most of out buyers are here weekends. He wanted me to accompany all showings and to qualify buyers before they came in. At that time, it was a modest listing, not even close to our hi-end. He also wanted as quick a sale as possible! I told him I wanted to get as many bodie thru as we could, hold open houses, brokers opens,etc. It was in a very visible area and had a lot of potential to get a walk-in buyer or serve as a source for other buyers. He listed with another agent. A year later, he closed at $75K less than the price I had suggested for listing--in a sellers market! I'm happy to have any of you share that story with a seller who doesn't want to cooperate with accessibility!

So true! Sometimes you just wonder how motivated these sellers actually are! (Maybe subconsciously they really don't want to sell?)

Access is definitely the key. Buyers will not buy what they cannot see. Sellers need to read this post Jennifer. I hope you also posted it on Localism.

Jennifer - Timely post! Seller's need to be educated about what it takes to sell their home. After price, access is imperative. Buyers won't buy without walking through - well I have heard cases where they do, but the majority do not!

Jennifer-

I cannot agree with you more!! I sell real estate here in Provincetown on Cape Cod and many Seller's Agents do not use lock-boxes even when the property is vacant!! I don't get it! Lock-boxes makes everybody's life so much easier! My last two sales of listings were on properties that had lock-boxes.

I had one lady who wanted the customers to park in the hospital parking lot across a busy four-lane highway with no crosswalks, all because she did not want her neighbors to know that she was selling her mobile home. Needless to say, I rejected the listing. The nerve and ignorance of some people. Of course she told me "I have to sell quickly!". Yeah, right.

Great point about access. I also believe it's the listing agents job to fully convince the seller to provide easy access. It isn't just the sellers fault if they are educated about how important it is.

You would think those things would be obvious but sadly they're too common.

Showed a listing last week. Lock box around back on basement door, no sign, had to reschedule showing 2 hours to meet mom's schedule. Buyers were turned off before they got there.

Hi Jennifer, We don't have lock boxes. Access to a property is by either making an appointment with listing agent or showing up at an Open House. A good buyers agent has to be very aggressive here.

Jennifer, it's like you have been looking over my shoulder. I lost a listing a few days ago for ALL of the reasons you stated above. Yet, the seller blamed me for not giving him feedback on the showings. The seller was getting TONS of showings ( 2-3 a week/ very good in our area) and sending 1/2 of them away because he wouldn't allow a lock box, he had to be present, he wouldn't clean the house, George- is right! My seller wanted someone to write and offer based on street appeal! !!!! Good grief!!!

Ray - I wish I could figure out why this happens, I guess we are all different and that difference even show up in a real estate transaction.

Cynthia - We can only hope the comments on this post would certainly get someone of them to rethink there actions.

Rosario - Why can't these sellet get it?

Tammy - You are right I think there are some controll issues going on.

Jennifer - All the homes I have staged in the past year have sold very quickly, except one. It will be in the market for one year in Nov. The client is on his 3 agent. They all dump him eventually because he has a very large dog and the home can only be shown when he is home AND he is never home. He just wants to have an open house every Sunday. It kills me because this one home is wrecking my staging stats! He just got a new agent in Sept and she did a great virtual tour - I have my fingers crossed, but really the agent can only do so much.

Jennifer this is an excellent post and so true. I had a similar situation last week with a seller that insisted on being present during showings. It really turns the buyers off. They want freedom to view the home without the seller standing over their shoulder and right there every step of the way. Great post!

Laurie _ These sellers have no idea how frustrating it can be for the agents.

Tammy - Can't have sale without the access.

Cyndee- From all the comments I can see this problem is universal, price it right and give us access and we will sell it.

Toni - In this market it is easy to walk away from such listings because inventory level is high. In a sellers market there are other things to considered, I consider each case individually.

Funny isn't it ? This is the same person who will then berate the agent or look outward for excuses. Go Figure.

Armondo - Thanks for the comment.

Missy - We all have these type of sellers in our marketplace. I really thing all these comments if shown to our sellers might cause them to rethink their position.

Chris - Without proper access we can't perform.

Debbie - I agree the electronic lock boxes helps, but some clients won't allow any type. I agree all these comments should be shown to any seller prone to this type of behavior.

Donna - More than ever we will have to educate the sellers, times have changed buyers won't wait around.

Sharon - You are so right, sometimes both buyers and sellers focus on the unimportant stuff and miss the significant items

Bruce - Let me know the outcome of the chat.

Bob & Carolin - How could have forgotten about the dogs, don't tell me it won't bite, I am afraid of even the smallest dog.

Jennifer I can't agree with you more. This along with overpricing will be the cause of most expires. Just allow us agents to get in and sell your house! Congrats on the feature.

SEP

2007

Access - what a concept! I council clients all the time not only to make the home easily accessible but please SELLER do not be present when the property is shown! I can size up a seller in about 10 seconds, they don't need to say a word. Seller, if you are home and my buyer decides to write an offer, it will probably cost you in purchase price, because I can read you and I will write the offer accordingly.

Tamara - That is usually what happens, the property stays on longer and the sold price is usually a lot less.

Al - The problem is some of these seller are the ones that must sell.

Derrick - The buyers certainly won't buy merely from doing a drive-by

Paula - We all know that people prefer to see what they are buying.

Rick - Lock-boxes in place certainly makes like easier for all.

John - What was she thinking? and of course she needed to sell quickly.

Dan - I agree, but some sellers still won't get it.

Jim - You are right I have had buyers turned off because of the hassle of getting access. Sometimes you finally get the access for the buyer's agent and they call back to cancel and then the seller is mad.

Mitchel -Your market is unique, lock-boxes would not be apporpriate and I can see why one would have to be aggressive to get access.

Dena - These are the type of sellers who will shift the blame to the agent, you just can't win.

Maureen - Sorry your stats is being ruined, there will alway be one in the pack.

Kimberly -You are right when the seller hangs around it make the buyer uncomfortable, this happened to me once. I had to call the listing agent to make another appointment without the seller being present. The buyer wanted to look in the cabinet and closets and just couldn't do it when the seller was around. This worked out in the end because the buyer purchased the house.

Bill - You are right, the agent will certainly pay.

Ashley - As agents all we want to do is to show the house and get it sold. Thanks for your kind word.

Laurie - The sellers fails to realise how vulnerable they are when present for a showing. Sometimes they even volunteer information which weakens their negotiating position.

Houde - Based on the number of comments this must have touched a nerve.

SEP

2007

Could not agree with you more on this one. No one is going to wait when there are 40 more just like it! I just sent out a memo to all of our agents about this same subject. If I have a client that demands no lockbox, or burdensome showing instructions, i WILL show them why this would be of no benefit to them. If they do not see how it will hurt them rather than help them....I move on. The museum business is not my forte. Someone else can play Curator.

SEP

2007

Excellent post! In my listing presentations, I stress access as a key component to getting the house sold. And it is one of the components that is totally in the seller's control. More access = More showings. More showings = More offers. More offers = Quicker sale!

Christopher - Sellers need to get it, this market does not favor them so access is a must.

Marcia - I agree with you. If the sellers don't want to give up some of the control there will be less showings and longer DOM.

DEC

2007

Excellent post, Jennifer.Thanks,

Tommy

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