Much as I love showing houses, planning to visit more than around three of four becomes a challenge.
I have my "foolproof" system. I plot out the homes on the MLS and generally start with the furthest one and work my way back. I really hate to end up having to end the showings at the furthest point away from my drive back. I also generally try and meet my clients at a place where they can park or pick them up. Having a caravan of cars in this city usually ends up with the tailing car getting lost. So where we are going to meet that is convenient is another challenge.
I get on Google Maps and plot the travel time between homes and try and estimate how long we will spend at each home. The travel time calculation can go out of the window with our traffic (see below) and I really have no idea how long we will spend at a house. It could be five minutes or half an hour. Then I start calling and making appointments in order. That's when the fun starts.
I assume the that the first one the agent for which I left a message will be O.K. with the 12:00 p.m. start and continue on accordingly. Wrong. The first one cannot do 12:00 p.m. they can only do 10:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. Back to the drawing board. Now I have to call the ones I have already confirmed and change the times, and you can be sure as I get to the end of the list the times are going to have to change again. And forget the starting at the end and working back strategy.....
Now don't forget that this is L.A. Try planning showings in Malibu on a day that is going to be 90 degrees. Pacific Coast Highway, which is hardly a highway - 3 lanes in either direction - is congested at the best of times let alone on what is going to be a beach day. And heaven forbid there is a fender bender. You can forget the whole thing as there is really no out.
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men. I do have one thing going for me. Out of 10 showings I am only meeting two agents, the rest are open. That avoids the other part of the comedy when you have to keep calling each agent ahead to tell them you are going to be early or late. And this in an area with bad cell service.
Wish me luck this Sunday.
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