Obviously you do or it wouldn't be listed with an agent, or so one would think. The key to selling your home or, in some cases, renting it is traffic. Everyone knows that every house will sell to someone.
The reason I am bringing up this topic is daily I run into properties that require 24 or 48 hours to get an appointment. Today, I had a rental customer, they had 91 choices in the immediate area. They chose a half dozen or so. One was desirable but crossed off the list as the Landlord wanted a minimum of 24 hours notice, no exceptions. Yesterday, I ran into the same dilemma. We set an appointment for the next day but my tenant applicants (with near 800 credit scores) had moved on to other properties and put in an application on one of those. We cancelled the appointment.
Having people coming though your home is a hassle. The more people that come through the more likely you will receive sales contracts or rental applications. Putting roadblocks or inconveniences in front of potential buyers or renters, like in any other business, causes them to look elsewhere.
There may be bona fide reasons why you require a 24 hour notice in some cases. Certainly, you do not want people showing up at your doorstep at the last minute. However, would a four hour notice be acceptable? I usually send out the latest updates to my prospects early in the morning for an afternoon or evening search. I point out to the client that this property requires a 24 hour notice and in most cases I will call and see if the seller will allow them to come by that afternoon or evening. If not, then we will go to the next house and likely will find another that meets the clients expectations. Unless your home is one of a kind, and few are in today's market, you the seller (or Landlord) should think seriously of whether a 24 hour, 48 hour, or in some cases, a rediculous 72 hour advance appointment is helping you achieve your goal.
Despite being the best real estate market in the nation, Northern Virginia is hardly a sellers market. It is not 2006 when you can call all the shots. One of the key elements to selling your home quickly and at the highest price is flexibility. The sellers I run into that get it are the ones that make it as easy as possible for the potential buyer to see their home whether it is convenient or not to them personally. They understand that getting multiple contracts or applications works in their favor.
Which of the two are you?
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