The other day I set up showings for a client to tour 7 homes. I followed all the showing instructions in each listing such as call showing service, call homeowner, call listing agent, etc. I easily set up 5 of the 7 with one phone call to one centralized showing service. The other two I had to call the listiing agents to arrange the showing. One answered immediately and I had to leave a message for the other. It was early when I left the message, 8:15 am, so that part didn't surprise me. We had wanted to see that particular home at 11:00 so we had plenty of time. However, I was never able to get a return call OR make contact with that agent until after 4:00 pm in the afternoon. By that time we were long gone and had finished our day of property tours. I'll bet a million dollars that the seller was never aware of any of this.
We all know that showings are at a premium and we want and need every single person to come through the door that we can. So what's the best option?? In fact, as a seller, you may not know there ARE several options or what the ramification of each are to you.
Many agents nowadays are gravitating to using a showing service. This is basically a call center that receives the calls from the various agents that would like to show the property. The showing service automatically sceens them to be sure that they are in fact an agent. has all their contact info captured such as cell phone, office phone and email. It keeps a written log of all showings and can automatically receive feedback from the showing agent AND can automatically forward that feedback to you the seller! As I said earlier, you can set up all the showings for the listings that are with the showing service all at the same time with one easy phone call. The best part? They are ALWAYS available!!
The other options range from calling the agent or the homeowner to the brokers front reception desk. Clearly of these three, the brokers office with a full time receptionist would be second best option. However, the showing services are generally open a broader range of hours than a brokerage office. You cannot rely completely on having to reach a person whether it be the homeowner or the agent as an effective solution. People have lives and things happen. People forget to charge their phone, they forget it at home, the baby got sick. And sadly some people are just ineffective period.
As I tell my own children...set yourself up to succeed. When interviewing your agent, make sure this is a question you ask. How WILL my house be shown? How WILL my showings be scheduled? It's also important to know that the showings should not be left up to you the homeowner either. It should be easy for an agent to show your house and it should remain at a professional level and not involve you. When we're scheduling 7 showings in a day, you don't want yours eliminated because it was too much of a hassle to even get through the door.
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