Should your agent be present for all showings, regardless if it's their own buyer or not? After all, who knows your house better than your own agent? Who better to actively "sell" your house onto a buyer, right? Well, let's talk about that. The pros, the cons and everything in between.
I'll start by coming right out and saying, "In my opinion, the listing agent, unless it's their own buyer, should absolutely and unequivocally not be present for showings."
I've shown a number of houses to buyers while the listing agents were present and very rarely were they ever helpful or made a positive impact. I say rarely because there is no "one size fits all" in real estate and sometimes their presence is entirely warranted. For example, some properties are very unique and complex and it can be helpful to have someone there to point out or explain things that we legitimately would have missed otherwise.
Let's talk about the other 98% of the time now. The end result of a well intentioned listing agent is usually frustration on the other end. Sure, everyone is friendly and all smiles but I find that's usually just a facade. Just yesterday, I showed a home where the listing agent was present. She opened the door, lingered around us and could not answer any of our questions. It literally was a waste of her time, because she offered no value, and a waste of our time because I had to wait until later on to talk to my buyer about his true thoughts, concerns and overall feedback.
This has happened time and time again with listing agents getting in the way. It's maddening because it's so much easier and more effective for me to have the ability to ask my buyer questions as we walk through, as opposed to trying to remember everything afterwards.
I once went on a listing appointment of a home that didn't sell and they were now interviewing other agents. They mentioned to me how frustrated and confused they were because after every showing, their agent would send them nothing but positive feedback. They couldn't understand why they none of them resulted in an offer. I asked them some questions and found out that their agent was present for all showings. It all made sense at that moment. I went into the details about how if the listing agent is present, it's almost always either a negative at worst case or a neutral at best. I told them that all the "positive" feedback that they were receiving was really only polite feedback because their agent was present. Buyers don't often like to come across as rude and if anyone on the seller's side is there, they are highly likely to put off a more positive vibe and say nothing but good things....and then secretly roll their eyes to their spouse as they turn their head.
Another big problem is that it's sometimes hard enough to line up my schedule with my buyer's, so adding a third schedule into the mix can make for an impossible showing. There have been numerous times were it was just too difficult to schedule a showing and my buyer decided to pass on the home all together. I always wonder if the seller realizes how many showings they have likely lost due to to this issue.
Moral of story....just let buyers and their trusted agents walk through alone with no pressure, awkwardness, distraction or leaving false positive feedback.
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