Home Seller Tip: Don't Decline Showings
When your house goes on the market it’s a time to tap into every ounce of flexibility you have. As a seller declining showings is a sure way to extend the time your home is on the market, impact your bottom line, and cause yourself more work in the long run. A house that can’t be shown isn’t likely to be sold. It’s currently a seller’s market in the Alexandria area but, that doesn’t mean the necessity to allow showings on your home is erased.
The thought process that a buyer will just reschedule for another time isn’t a good one. We recently had a listing where the seller was declining about 50% of the showings. If the timing wasn’t just right for the sellers schedule the showing was declined. Reasons varied from I’m working from home on X day or I don’t want to have to wait to come home after work. Of all the showings that were declined only one was rescheduled. ONE! Buyers and their agents have schedules too and by declining a showing request a seller risks losing that buyer. Think about if they have a few homes set up to tour on a certain day. They might fall in love with one of those homes, make an offer, and never have a need to come back to the house that declined their showing request. Some buyers even take a declined showing request as a sign the seller will be difficult to work with and decide it’s best to just move on.
Having your home on the market is a lot of work. It’s a guarantee your daily routine is going to be interrupted. It requires getting up earlier to clean, make beds, and put away any clutter that landed on tables and counters from the night before. It also requires you to be away from your home even when it’s not convenient to be. It’s best to approve all reasonable showing requests. I say reasonable because there are always those times a call comes in for a showing request with 5 minutes notice – that I can definitely understand not being possible in most cases. However, if the showing instructions have been followed approving the requests is the best plan. As a seller, you’re more likely to go under contract faster and then not have to worry about showing requests. Any request that you decline could have been your homes new buyer but, it’s rare if you’ll ever know because they won’t likely reschedule for another time.
Going back to the listing we had, it stayed on the market three times longer than any other listing we’ve had in over three years. Because of that, the buyer saw room for negotiation and it ultimately cost the seller on their bottom line. It wasn’t that the home wasn’t nice, it showed beautifully but, if buyers can't get in to see a home they don't know how well it shows in person. Buyers can see a lot online in today’s world and that’s a great thing but, for most, it’s a necessity to get inside a home and walk through it to see if it’s the one. Buyer’s need the opportunity to make that emotional connection that causes them to then want to make an offer. No matter where you live or what the current market conditions are – if you are selling your home approving showing requests is a must. Being flexible with your schedule will pay off!
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