A Tale of Two Agents: Courtesy In Showing Appointments
Sunday morning was just like many other Sunday mornings. We're getting ready for church and the phone rings. An agent wants to see one of our listings 3-4 p.m., and the listing normally requires prior day notice. The sellers have more flexibility on weekends regarding making their home available, so we call, they approve the showing, we relay approval back to the showing agent and we get back on our normal schedule.
A bit AFTER 5 p.m., the agent calls again. "We're running late but would still like to see your listing today". {Must suppress urge to ask "What happened that you couldn't call when you FIRST realized you were going to be late rather than two hours after the start of your approved appointment?"} We agree to call the sellers and ask if they're willing to leave again for a yet to be determined time.
While pulling up the seller's contact info the phone goes off again, another showing agent for a different listing. She's running 45 minutes ahead of schedule and hoping the sellers for that home can accommodate them coming early {LOVE THIS, we've had other agents just show up and pressure the sellers to get out}. The sellers say "give us 10 minutes and we'll be out", and showing agent #2 gets her request for an expedited showing time.
Showing agent #1? He's already lost his credibility with our sellers by not showing up on time and not calling until two hours later, so the answer is "not today, please schedule an appointment later in the week."
Two different agents, two different levels of respect for the sellers, two different results.
And the sellers not jumping a 2nd time doesn't mean they're not motivated, but there's a reasonable limit to how long and how often they should have to leave to facilitate a showing. Some courtesy on the showing agent's behalf to let them know early on that he was running late might have been adequate to change times, but waiting until well after the appointment window leads us to question just how motivated his buyers truly were about seeing our listing?
Showing appointments are a two way street. Obviously between the two showing agents today, which one would you rather work a deal with given a choice?
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz
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