Can I Stay Home During Showings?
Sellers frequently ask if they can stay home during showings. Yes, you can stay home since it is your home. However, if the shoe was on the other foot and you were the potential buyer, would you want the homeowner to be present during a showing? Here are multiple reasons why sellers should not be present when their home is being shown to a prospective buyer.
Should Sellers Be Present During Showings?
The short answer is “no”. Buyers usually tell us they are uncomfortable if the homeowners are present. They spend more time thinking about how uncomfortable they are then looking at your home. It also makes it difficult for buyers to speak freely amongst themselves and their Realtor about your property. They are less likely to do so in your presence.
Additionally, buyers feel rushed and will spend less time really evaluating your home. Since the ultimate goal is to sell, you want buyers to feel as comfortable as possible. So, although you have ever right to stay home, our recommendation is to leave shortly before the showing time to allow prospective buyers time to evaluate and experience your home.
Knowledge is Leverage
If you are selling your home, only you and your real estate professional know why. Perhaps you have plenty of time and the maximum price is most important to you. Or maybe selling as quickly as possible is your primary concern. Either way, you want to closely guard this information between you and your Realtor. When a seller attends a showing, the buyers may have questions and you may inadvertently share too much information.
Perhaps the buyers interpret something you say to mean you are not willing to negotiate so it’s not worth their time to put in an offer. Or maybe they learn you want to sell quickly which results in the buyers submitting a low offer. An experienced real estate professional knows how to navigate between your motivations and potential buyers, and ultimately negotiate on your behalf during the sales process.
What if You Are Concerned About Your Valuables?
For many home sellers, concern about their personal possessions and valuables while buyers are previewing their home is the main reason they want to stay home. Certainly a legitimate concern. We recommend a couple of options for sellers concerned about their valuables. One option would be to take any items you are worried about with you when you leave the property or lock them away if possible.
Of course, there are times where this may not be an option. Perhaps you have valuable paintings or artwork which you need to safeguard, yet it is not feasible to remove them for each showing. An alternative is “agent assisted showings”.
What Are Agent Assisted Showings?
An agent assisted showing is where the listing agent, who represents your best interests, will be the one present during the showing on your behalf. They will be able to discretely monitor the showing will staying out of the way to give buyers as much space as needed to preview your home. We still recommend you take, hide or lock away smaller sized valuables such as jewelry or money.
Ready to Sell Your Home?
It is a seller’s market so why should you work with a realtor? Do you have the time? There are over 180 actions required to successfully complete a real estate transaction. From scheduling showings, contract negotiations, organizing inspectors, attorneys, title companies and a mountain of paperwork.
With nearly 20 years of experience helping sellers with their golf community real estate needs, we would like to share our strategy for how we’re helping maximize the number of offers homeowners are receiving and ultimately higher sales prices.
As an experienced real estate team, we have made a career out of helping people sell homes in Southwest Florida. As you may well know, opportunities such as today’s market for sellers only comes every so often.
Contact us today to learn your home’s true value – 239-370-0892.
Results You Can Count On
The Naples Golf Guy Team is committed to extraordinary customer service with an emphasis on detail. Professionalism, integrity and discretion are not goals, they are standards. We collaborate with our sellers to design and implement a customized marketing campaign to present your property to the world. If you are a buyer, we are committed to helping you find the community which will allow you to live the ultimate Florida lifestyle in Paradise.
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