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A No Brainer for Seller's- if you want to sell your house, you have to let the Buyers's SEE It!

By
Real Estate Agent with Raleigh Cary Realty

Although we as Realtors are doing all we can to get our seller's homes sold in this economic client, I've noticed an interesting trend with sellers lately.

I've spent the last 4 weeks with 3 different buyers in different sections of the Raleigh Cary Apex area.  What I'm seeing with sellers is amazing me.  Things weren't this bad even in the old days of a few years ago when it was a seller's market. 

I'm talking about not being able to show homes that are listed for sale!

When I talk to my potential sellers, I always explain to them what they, as seller's are responsible for and are expected to do in order to sell the home.

1. Condition of the house- keep it clean, keep up the staging.

2. Price- follow my advice and the comps I send you to keep the home priced right.Thousands of houses for sale

3. Convenience- for the Buyers to see, NOT for you to show! 

You would think that #3 would be the easiest thing for the seller to handle.  When a buyer's agent calls to view a house- LEAVE!

Generally, if I'm showing houses on a Saturday, I will try to make appointments by Thursday or Friday.

This week was no exception. I had a list of 9 homes to show a client on Saturday.  One house went under contract between the time I looked at it on the MLS to the time I printed it out.- Okay, good for them. Now we're down to 8 homes.

5 of the remaining 8 homes were "appointment only".  I had to wait on hold while Centralized Showing Services  confirmed the appointment (wasting all my cell phone minutes).  Of those 5, 2 wanted me to schedule my appointment for later in the day. Apparently 11:00 am on a Saturday was too early for them!  One seller suggested we come sometime after 3pm, as she had a meeting going on in her house that day. Well, by that time I would be long done showing homes!  And really, if your house is on the market, doshopping for a homen't schedule a Saturday morning meeting of your club there.

Last weekend- same type of thing. Only one house was perfectly accommodating. That house happened to be the home that was immaculate & staged beautifully. And priced right. Guess what? It's still on the list of possibles.  

We arrived approximately 3-5 minutes early at another home. The seller was rude and made us wait outside while he finished vacuuming. (The house needed a lot more than vacuuming!)  One other homeowner declined showings for any time on that Saturday.

The weekend before last- different buyers, different area. These buyers were slower lookers, so we ran a few minutes late.  Got to our last house 20 minutes late. I rang the bell, apologized to the seller for being late, and asked if we could still see the house.  He checked with his wife and after 10 minutes the family came out.  The wife was obviously furious! She walked right past us and refused to look at us or acknowledge my apology.  The house was gorgeous, but we decided we could never negotiate a deal with that seller!

As Realtors we know that selling your house can be a nuisance and to some extent an invasion of your privacy. BUT, you knew this when you signed the listing agreement (or should have anyway).  You've surely heard that it's a Buyer's market out there. 

As a buyer's agent, I spend a lot of time and work very hard picking out homes for my buyers to see, then mapping them out and arranging appointments.  When sellers ask me to come back hours later, I just can't rearrange my whole schedule to accommodate one seller. So that home is off the list.  There are a lot of other homes available for us to see.

The moral of the story is:

If you want to sell your house, you have to let the buyers see it!

 Please make it easy for me to show my buyer's your home. I want to sell it for you!

 

 

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 As your local specialist, Linda Jandura knows Apex and Cary!

Call me today at 919-621-1691.

 

About The Author

Linda Jandura is a North Carolina Residential Real Estate Specialist that can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of homes in the Raleigh Cary Metro area, or any place else in the country by connecting you with a relocation professional in your destination of choice.

 To find all available homes for sale in the Triangle area of North Carolina, please visit www.NCHomesFinder.com

Call me TODAY at 919-621-1691

Email me with your Raleigh Cary area questions 

Comments (11)

Lynda Eisenmann
Preferred Home Brokers - Brea, CA
Broker Associate ,CRS,GRI,SRES, Brea,CA, Orange Co

Linda,

So very true..."The house was gorgeous, but we decided we could never negotiate a deal with that seller!" Things like this do have a big impact on consumers when it comes to making a buying decision.

Like you, I've never quite experienced so many scheduling issues when it comes to showing property. As REALTORS I wonder (at times) if we're doing enought to explain the urgency to home sellers and preparing them for showings.

Oct 10, 2009 08:23 AM
Tom Schoenbeck
Keller Williams Realty at the Beach - Rehoboth Beach, DE

Great post Linda. You often do wonder about seller's inability or unwillingness to cooperate in selling their own home. I think they forget, when they decide to list their home for sale, they are entering into a business relationship and refusing to go the extra mile to accomodate a potential buyer, leads in most cases, to lost business! And your point is well taken. When a seller is so unaccomodating and outwardly rude, you and your buyer both take notice and that seller's chances of making a sale, just got shot down. What a shame. I hope the seller's agent was able to explain to them the impact their behavior had on the potential buyer.

Oct 10, 2009 09:01 AM
Betty Knowles
Southwest Missouri Realty - Springfield, MO
Ready to sell? Call Betty!

Hi Linda,  Great post.  I just ran into this yesterday.  I was only previewing and I called and they hadn't done the laundry so I didn't get to see their home for a possible sale.  They did say they hope I call back next week to preview.  It just isn't happening.

Oct 10, 2009 09:07 AM
Linda Jandura
Raleigh Cary Realty - Apex, NC
Realtor, North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist

Lynda- so even 3000 miles across the country seller's aren't letting you show houses either? what is going on?

Tom- Yes, it is a business transaction. They are in the position of making money, and in order to make money, they have to do some work. Thanks for commenting.

Team Knowles- Even turning down a preview?  That's absurb. Like you would really call back next week?  

Oct 10, 2009 09:21 AM
Amy Hahn
Pine Knoll Shores Realty - Morehead City, NC
Realtor/Broker - Crystal Coast, NC

I like the sellers who insist that their agent be present for all showings.  Seems like every time I want to show their property...their agent is no where to be found.

Oct 10, 2009 10:44 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Linda,

Not every Seller is ready and willing.  It is evidenced by the hurdles they erect to showing the property.

Oct 10, 2009 01:40 PM
Linda Jandura
Raleigh Cary Realty - Apex, NC
Realtor, North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist

Amy- luckily I've never run into that problem- listing agents are never present here, unless it's a multi million dollar home.  We'd never get anything shown.

Mike-  It really makes you wonder why they're wasting the listing agents time. I had one listing agent call me to apologize for her seller and mention that she might withdraw that listing, the seller was being too difficult!

Oct 10, 2009 01:53 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Linda - I can never understand that a seller would make considerable effort required to get a property market ready, only to restrict showings.  I come across it more often than I think most of us expect to.  I keep thinking, "OK, who in this home DOESN'T want to sell?"

Oct 12, 2009 01:11 PM
David Williams
CaryRealEstate.com - Cary, NC

Linda -

I hear ya! I've experienced the same recently.  'Sorry, the sellers aren't having any showings today"

Oct 17, 2009 12:04 PM
Linda Jandura
Raleigh Cary Realty - Apex, NC
Realtor, North Carolina Buyer & Seller Specialist

Myrl- You've hit it right on the head- do they really want to sell. SOMEONE in the house doesn't.

David- Glad I'm not the only one, but really- why are they wasting our time.

Oct 17, 2009 01:41 PM
Mary Douglas
United Country Ponderosa Realty, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado - Red Feather Lakes, CO
REALTOR, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Linda, There is a lovely home on the market , here.  There is no lockbox - the seller insists on being there to let us in.  He isn't there all the time, and often showings are denied, or asked to be rescheduled --I'm thinking the seller doesn't really want to sell at all!  So I hear you loud and clear on this  - sorry you have run into so many lately!

Oct 17, 2009 02:38 PM