I've seen several blog posts lately about the demise of broker tours and caravans of agents to listings. Some people dislike them, while others love them. I am part of the latter group. I always learn a lot and it is fun to get to know the other agents in an informal setting.
Our local Association of Realtors has a weekly caravan of Realtors for each different area of the county, and we often pile several agents into each car and drive on a prescribed route so that we can get to the houses at about the same time. The way I like it best is the way we have done it on one of the areas, where we keep to the actual caravan and arrive together, then after seeing the home, we meet in the kitchen, fill out feedback forms about the home, its price, whether we have staging suggestions, etc. These are given to the listing agent, who can then discuss them with the seller.
If almost everyone says the price is too high, or they won't show it until some item is fixed, the agent can use that as ammunition to get the seller to do what he/she has been trying to talk them into.
Also, some of us might be thinking that one house looks perfect for one of our buyers, and someone will say, "Did anyone else notice the dryrot under the bathroom sink? Which of course not everyone did. Everyone looks for different things (usually things that have bitten them on prior transactions), and it is very helpful to have a bunch of eyes looking for all the good and bad in each home.
I say, "Hooray for caravans!" And I attend as many as possible.
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