Today I was out showing homes and the showing service did not call the seller at one of the homes that I wanted to show. The seller was a bit surprised but then let us in to see her home. This reminded me of a story from A few years ago. 
I was out showing homes to friends of mine. We were looking in a specific neighborhood for a specific type of home. I called the listing office to set up the appointment to show the homes in the area. We get in the car and get the show on the road. We saw two, they were pretty good, one was a real consideration. We get to the next home, I knock on the door and say, "hi, I am Audrey June from RE/MAX Realty Group we have an appointment to see your home."
The seller practically screams at us and says, "NO you don't.' No one has called me to say you were coming. I said I wasn't sure why they didn't call but that I was told we were set to see the house? If it was not an inconvenience, could we please come in and take a look around? All of the sudden the listing agent sticks her head out the front door of her home and they exchange words about us not having an appointment and that if we didn't have an appointment we were NOT coming into his house. The listing agent concurred and told us to go on if we did not have an appointment. I know I called, but it was not worth the argument, because I was not going to win.
We turned around, my friends were a little freaked out by his attitude and went back to my office and bought one of the other houses. He should have known, that was probably the buyer of his home. I guess they showed us. Protected themselves right out of a contract.
The irony to the story is that after I got married, I put my own house on the market. It was before the market went crazy, but still moving right along. My husband, Mike, knew to turn on all of the lights, open the blinds, and leave when someone was coming to the house. We had two showings scheduled for the first Saturday morning and the house was set.
So, I am out showing houses to clients and all of the sudden Mike calls me on my cell. Susie Agent from your office is at the front door and wants to come in!! I said, And you are letting her in, right? Mike says, Well, she doesn't have an appointment!! I just laughed and said, um, please turn on the lights and do your thing and let her come in. I guess I thought Mike would know everything about real estate through osmosis since he was married to me. I said to him, " You never know, that could be the buyer of your home." It wasn't the buyer that day, but you never know?
Since that happened years ago, I always prompt my sellers that you never know. Your house is on the market, people could be out with their agent and drive by the sign and ask their agent to knock on the door to see if they can see the house. You never know, that could be the buyer of your home? 
I always explain safety to them, not to let people come in alone or at night. Get the card, if it doesn't feel right, tell to come another day and so on. However, on a Saturday afternoon, someone may just come with the agent and knock on the door to see your home. Some call the office from the driveway, it is sort of the same thing. You have to be prepared for anything, yes, it is inconvenient, but the more accessible your home is, hopefully the faster it will sell and you can be rid of the inconveniences.
You never know. . .
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