Do you want you house to sell?

If you’re selling your house it’s not a good idea to stay home during showings, period. In fact, it’s a really bad idea. Trust me on this. First of all, it intimidates a lot of home-buyers. They don’t feel comfortable viewing your personal space with you there. They don’t want to talk about what they like or don’t like in your presence. How are they supposed to poke fun at your wallpaper, and then discuss that it would be easy and cheap to remove? They definitely do not want to talk money in front of you. You do want potential buyers talking money in your house don’t you? Go out for a cup of coffee, go for a drive, sit in your car across the street for all I care – just go somewhere for the time it takes buyers to tour your house in peace. You don’t have to be home to protect your belongings or to show off all the wonderful attributes of your house. That’s why you hired a Realtor in the first place. Make us work for it!

It’s also a bad idea to require your listing agent to be present for showings. A buyer’s agent is well qualified to show your house and wants to sell it as much as you do – if it meets the needs of their client. Your listing agent does not need to be present to “sell” your house. It’s not a used car, it’s the most important purchase most people will ever make in their lives. Trying to accommodate the schedules of two agents only makes things more difficult. Keep it as simple as possible. Lockboxes allow agents to quickly and easily show listings. Electronic lockboxes also keep a record of who’s opened them. This way you can rest assured, if something is missing or the cat has been let out, your agent will have a paper trail of who came in and when. Be sure to discuss all of these specifics with your agent when you list your house for sale. If your house is easy to show and buyer’s can feel free to take their time inside and imagine themselves living there you will have a great advantage in this buyer’s market. Down the street Sally and Bob were in their living room watching TV so the buyers decided not to look around in there too long. Now they can’t remember if they liked it. They never got to see that other house around the block because the listing agent wasn’t free to show it at a convenient time for them. Is your house easy and comfortable to view? You get the idea.