What was the real estate agent thinking?

Debbie- Thanks for the explanation. There obviuosly is no excuse for the owner or agent but laziness.

I hope she says YES to the carpet too.  It saddens me when I hear stories like that showing an agents inability to truely represent a clients best interests. 

Hi Debbie - It seems to make no sense, but sometimes it is the seller who is paranoid about having a lockbox hanging in plain sight on the door of a home that is vacant. Much better to hang it on the gas meter or hose bib where it is less obvious than the front door, but still easy to find and encourages entry through the front door.

Debbie when I see the question "What was the Agent thinking?"  The answer always seems to be simple the same "They were not" :) :) :)

Debbie, that is a very weird situation...  I wonder if the homeowner wanted it there so as not to arouse suspicion that the home might be vacant.  Sometimes that is the case.

Debbie . I'm sure there are many issues that have resulted in no sales for so long. You gave them a good suggestion in moving the lockbox. First impressions are so important.

Oh my ==this brought memories of a house I showed last year were we entered through the garage.. It smelled like someone died!  I didn't even get to open the door to the home.. my buyer ran out asap... I called the listing agent and she was clueless...  and insisted there was no problem..

Very illogical. The owner probably dictated it, or, the front door configuration may not have accommodated it.

I agree that the Front Door is the ideal place, and probably the place we agents would look first.  But I guess we have to assume they had a (good?) reason to place the lockbox on the rear door.  When out showing a home to buyers I would be happy to find the lockbox on either door.  The real problem comes when it is somwhere hard to find and the listing agent did not give a heads up.

Debbie:

I agree that the agent was not using good judgment.  Some sellers don't want the lock box on the front door, but since it is a second home the agent was the one who elected to put the lockbox on the back door.

Being on and off the market for such a long time tells me that the placement of the lockbox is not what is keeping the house from selling.  Interesting choice though...I wonder if the key does not work in the lock on the front door very well?  I would have the seller try the key and see if the door maybe needs to be adjusted.  Maybe there is a logical explanation.

Hi Debbie, I have had sellers ask me not to place my lock box on the front door, but at least I leave it somewhere near the front door, so that buyers will get a great first impression. Going around the back is not always a good choice, but I can only wander what that agent's reasons were for doing it.

Since the home isn't lived in full-time, maybe the agent was thinking better to have it less visible. I agree with you totally though. I would never put a lockbox on a basement door.

 

That is weird... I had one once where the neighbor was going to put out the lockbox and all contacts had to be made through her.  Unfortunately, the homeowner was in the hospital for a while, and to further complicate matters, it appears that the neighbor was never home.  Frustrating as a buyer's agent.

I get the security thing, but why would the key be to the back door?