Everyone knows the goal of the Seller is to sell their home for top dollar in the shortest amount of time possible. It is the job of the Listing Agent to make the actual home showings as stress free as possible for the Seller.
Once the Seller is ready to put their house up for sale, and allow potential Buyer's into their home, the last thing they want is their daily routine and way of living completely disrupted or turned upside down. A good Realtor will want to help the Seller keep their "My House on the Market Routine" as close to their normal way of life as possible.
However, it is also extremely important to recognize that the way a Seller chooses to regulate the showings, and the way the Listing Agent advertises those showing instructions to other Realtors, can make a dramatic difference in how fast the house sells and the price the Seller receives. I am talking about the difference between a quick sale at top dollar, a listing that stays on the market an unnecessarily long time and sells for less than what it should have, or even worse; an expired listing.
A Buyer that likes the outside look of your home, is in the mood to buy, and / or is in a position where they are in a hurry and have to make a decision fast, it is a good buyer to have looking in your home. Buyers will go from house to house at all hours of the weekday and weekend searching for the property that is right for them. When a buyer has an excitement about a house, their Realtor will want to help keep that interest going by getting them inside fast.
Homes that are difficult to show result in many missed opportunities for the Seller. If a Buyer can not get access to a property, on their time schedule, they will simply move on to other homes that have an easier viewing accessibility. The truth is that when Seller limits the showing accessibility, this usually results in Listing Agent advertising the home as: Shown By Appointment Only, Must give 24 Hours Notice, Listing Agent Must Be Present, or Must Speak with Owner Prior To Showing, and thus the Seller is seriously hurting the sale of their home. If the showing instructions are this restrictive, many Buyer's Realtors, won't bother to even call to set up the showing.
So where is the happy medium and how can the Seller keep their Routine? As a Full Time Listing Agent, I tell my Sellers to think of it this way: the faster the buyer can get in the house and determine it is the right one for them, the sooner the home will be taken off the market, and the shorter the time the Seller has to keep the home in "Showing Condition."
OK, a great thought, right? But what if you have children or some other circumstance such that there is just no way you can keep the home in Showing Condition all the time without going crazy? I have a solution for my Sellers that tends to be a good compromise.
I advertise the home to other Realtors as "Lockbox Call" which means the Buyer's Agent calls first before coming, and then I place the Lockbox in the Seller's hands instead of hanging it on the door. This helps the Seller to relax and feel more in control of the showing situation without advertising a showing as being difficult to show.
It has been my experience, that most Sellers add restrictions to showings simply because they want to be in control and don't want to be walked in on or surprised at the last minute. When I give the lockbox to my Sellers they are also given specific instructions. Lockboxes in Bryan, College Station automatically turn themselves on to allow Realtor access at 8am and off at 9pm. The Seller needs to remember that if a Realtor calls, and the Seller does not answer the phone, that Realtor is headed to the house. The Seller also needs to remember that if they leave their house, for any reason, they need to have their home ready for a showing and have the lockbox outside.
Most Realtors will do what they can to provide as much notice as possible. If the Seller needs a little extra time, they can always ask the Realtor if they can be the last home on the list and most Realtors will try to be as accommodating as possible. Another example is if the Seller is wanting to limit the showing times because of a house-hold pet that is used to roaming free.
I suggest that a good compromise, instead of restricting the showing times, is simply to place the pet in the utility room with a baby gate so that the potential Buyer has access to the house on their time table and can view the room, without the pet being tightly confined in a crate all day. A good Realtor will be able to come up with alternate solutions to restricting showing times that should allow the home to be viewed normally by Buyers and still accommodate the needs of the Seller.
For More Articles that Every Seller Should Know Click Here. Thanks and Happy Selling! Feel free to call me if you have any questions at 979-218-2235 or Visit My Website www.ahouse-soldname.com
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