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Buyers: last minute showing cancellation is not appreciated

By
Real Estate Agent

Buyers, a last minute showing cancellation is not appreciated. Perhaps you didn't mean to be thoughtless or rude. Perhaps you don't realize the efforts Realtors and sellers make to show you a property that's a very good match for you. 

A new buyer lead contacted me on Friday, just two days ago, wanting to see a lake cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. For the most part, properties listed here during the winter months are ready to show. That means the access roads and driveways are plowed and kept open throughout the winter months. But not always. Sometimes the seller or even the listing agent will plow on demand. 

This buyer wanted to see the property the next day (Saturday). I got right on it to book the showing. The listing agent 

responded immediately by heading out to the property to plow the driveway. 

Meanwhile, I had a few conversations with the buyer about the property. The lake front was described as high elevation. I said that side of the lake does typically have high elevation, and while I had not seen that property, I could guess there would be more than 50 steps to the lake. Buyer seemed to think that would be OK. He called back later on Friday afternoon to cancel the showing. His wife didn't like the height.

This was after the driveway had been plowed. The listing agent was very unhappy to learn the showing was cancelled, but understood that these things can happen. I called the buyer back to ask them to reconsider. Since the cabin, the lake, and the lot size were just what they were looking for, perhaps when they see the property in person they might get a better sense of the height and decide if it really was too high. They decided to come after all.

The driveway to the cabin happened to be very long and steep. It was obviously a huge job to plow. The listing agent spent his own personal time to make that showing possible.

Understand that it's our job; we are happy to do whatever it takes. Still, if the buyer could keep in mind that we are not just waiting by the phone for their call and ready to show a home at the snap of our fingers. 

If only it could really be that easy.

 

 

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Comments (1)

Bryan Robertson
Los Altos, CA

It's really annoying when a buyer sees the exact house they want and then changes their mind for some reason that makes no sense.  It's especially hard when they eliminate a listing without actually seeing it.  Hopefully you'll get them to focus a bit more.

Mar 11, 2012 12:02 AM