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Yes, I Do Mind!

Sometimes I wonder what ever happened to professional courtesy. Lately I've discovered that agents have been showing my vacant properties without scheduling a showing. When I call them to question them, they respond "I didn't think you'd mind or I tried to get a hold of you".

I make a point of making myself available by carrying my cell phone with me everywhere but the shower and church so I don't buy into the "couldn't get a hold of you" excuse. I wouldn't dream of entering a property without requesting a showing from a listing agent. I would never want to interfere with the possibility that another agent has scheduled a showing at that time.

There are circumstances where on the way to show another property you can come across a vacant home the buyers would like to see. In that case, call the agent and request a showing. Don't just assume that because the property is vacant, you can go in whenever you want. The property may already have an accepted offer on it or the seller may be taking it off of the market. A sign in the yard doesn't mean it's available. Sometimes we can't remove our signs until the spring.

Most agents in my area are fairly responsive and will get back to me fairly quickly if I request a short notice showing. I keep a list of the various real estate companies and their agents in my car so that if I can't reach the listing agent, I can at least get in touch with the on call agent or the broker.

Most buyers appreciate your efforts if you exhaust every possibility in an attempt to contact someone. They understand they may have to wait a day or two and realize that there are procedures that have to be followed as a professional coutresy as well as for security and ethical reasons.

Obviously, I want as many showings on a property as possible but I need to know by who and when.

Take care.

Posted by Cindy Leiterman Green Bay, WI on 02/10/2009 07:05 PM

Comments (14)

vacant houses, listing agents

14 Comments on Yes, I Do Mind!

FEB

You have a valid gripe. If they do not make appointments and something happened to the home and their lock key was the last on the meter, seems that would be a point of possible liability or at least could be questionable. So not only for your sake but their sake also--make those appointments!

It just shows that different areas of the country have different rules regarding showing properties. In our area most vacant properties are a "go and show" no need to call. If an agent is using the current Sentrilock or Supra lockbox any one who comes into the property is recorded. Many of our foreclosures use a centralized showing service which captures our name and information as well.

Can you dis-connest the MLS key online? or do you say please call before showing property. ? A lot of agents may drive by the property, see it to be interesting prospect, look it up on their Palm or Blackberry and it says Vacant, BUT it does not say call agent before showing Right?

If they would lie about trying to reach you, what else would they lie about? That's the question.

Kathy

If you want that much control, why not just use a combo box? That way they must contact you first before gaining access.

Don't get angry....just take control!

I agree with you Cindy. I don't even include if the property is vacant in the MLS. I want to know who is going into the house. Most agents use CSS in our area, so it's not a problem to make an appointment.

Why would someone enter a property without knowing if there is an alarm that could go off? That's plain rude!

I live in an area where a lot of properties are vacant 'sometimes' because they are vacation homes or snowbirds come in the winter or some other reason which has the property vacant but not at all times. So agents get used to being able to show vacant properties at any time/as many times as they want without being in the habit of checking,,,which can be an unpleasant surprise if a seller has decided to come for a weekend getaway. That was the long story but basically I always let an agent know before I show a property and I would like for other agents to do the same, but in an area with a lot of vacant properties, it can be an easy habit to not get into.

Hi Cindy

The simple act of common courtesy can go a long way and seems to be a lost art.

Good luck and success

Lou Ludwig

Here Here I would mind also. Maybe a call to their Broker might be in line.

I don't get this post, are saying in your area an appointment is required to show vacant property. If so why have lockboxes. The day I have to set an appointment to show vacant homes, I'll get out of the business!!! Even if others come to see a vacant home, it may cause both to bid the home up. May I am missing something you mean't to add. Here we just go and show vacant properties without notice and in fact they sell faster because agents do not have t make appointments.

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't bother to call ahead when a home is vacant.

If it's active in the MLS and there are no special remarks telling me something special, I'm going to go and show it without calling the agent. We have electronic lockbox keys so the listing agent will know that I was there.

I think it's a complete waste of time when an agent has "must call agent" when it's a vacant home. I call and they say that it's vacant and I can just go and show it. This all takes more time and really doesn't accomplish anything. The chances of someone else showing it at the same time are slim to none and if there is an overlap, it's no big deal to take turns looking.

When you're setting up a lot of showings, every extra phone call slows down the process. Every extra message I have to call up to retrieve is more wasted time.

Many times I will go out and preview a bunch of homes in order to prepare for a listing call. I pick out the vacant ones first so I don't have to bother anyone with a preview showing and I actually never think about calling the listing agent to tell them I will be checking out their listing. It never crossed my mind that anyone would actually care or really mind that I was doing that. I just assumed that it is part of having a home on the market.

Different parts of the country are soooo different. Here in Arizona, there is never a question that an agent can just go and see a vacant home whenever they need to show it. No one cares and it would be odd to call an agent and ask permission to go see a vacant home here. The lock boxes record who goes in and and out so the listing agent always knows who has been inside the home.

Wow...here is where regions really show their differences! We have a showing instruction that says "Vacant/LB", which means we can show the property without making any call or appointment. I never would expect (and in fact would be annoyed) if an agent called me on my vacant property. If someone shows up while I am showing a vacant property, I will assess how my clients would feel and then either let them in at the same time or ask them to wait until we were done. We have never had a problem.

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