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Sellers notified to come home over 10,000 times.

By Bill Faherty

Services for Real Estate Pros with Showing Beacon

March 12, 2007 05:40 PM

I was pretty excited to see that we hit another milestone this week. We've now made over 10,000 phone calls to frustrated home-sellers! If you haven't heard of our little Showing Beacon - it's a simple device that is placed in the seller's home. Once the showing agent and buyer are finished looking at the home - they just push the button on the way out. The seller is immediately called on their cell phone and told the coast is clear.

The idea came from a frustrated home-seller and we're happy to know we've helped stop the frustration for so many others!

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Kaye Thomas

Real Estate West - Manhattan Beach, CA

e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA

This is a very nifty little gadget.. and it just automatically calls the seller...

Mar 13, 2007 03:18 AM

Jeff Dowler, CRS

eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA

The Southern California Relocation Dude

Cool gadget. Thanks for sharing. Ah, the ways you can make money.

Jeff

Mar 13, 2007 03:26 AM

Jim & Maria Hart

Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC Real Estate

This is a little gadget that our Centralized Showing Service advertises. Has a great concept.

Mar 13, 2007 03:28 AM

Kristal Kraft

Novella Real Estate - Denver, CO

Selling Metro Denver Real Estate - 303-589-2022

I love the idea of this beacon. So far none of my clients have felt the need for one, but one day I'll get to place it in a listing! Thanks for letting everyone know about this terrific service.

Mar 13, 2007 03:29 AM

Rich Schiffer

Swarthmore, PA

Referral Agent, e-PRO

I hope it is set to call the seller's cell phone...if it calls their home, what's the point? They are not there! That would be a big oops!

Mar 13, 2007 03:50 AM

Ken Stampe

iBrandPlan.com - Grow your e-Profile & Brand - Dallas, TX

iBrandPlan

I know an agent that put a nice flyer on the back of the front door asking the agent showing the buyers to please call the cell phone number on the flyer on their way out. Same concept, less investment.

Mar 13, 2007 04:28 AM

Wayne McMullan

Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty - Belleville, ON

Quinte Real Estate

Nice touch Bill. Is it available to Canadian realtors/

Mar 13, 2007 04:46 AM

John Evarts

Classic Property Management of Santa Clarita - Santa Clarita, CA

Dang it. Why didn't I think of that?

Mar 13, 2007 05:01 AM

Robert Hammerstein -

Christie's International Real Estate - Hillsdale, NJ

Bergen County NJ Real Estate

Perfectly wonderful new doo-dad for those sellers that don't want to be around when the home is being shown. Thanks for sharing this with us. It's worth a look for sure.

Mar 13, 2007 05:48 AM

Chris Griffith

Downing-Frye Realty, Bonita Springs, FL - Bonita Springs, FL

Bonita Springs Listing Specialist - Agent

I'm thinking it's a great "gift" to get those nosey, clingy sellers OUT of the house. You know the ones that show the house for us and make the buyers oh so uncomfortable.

MANGO! Double mango day.

Mar 13, 2007 06:03 AM

Gena Riede

Riede Real Estate, Lic. 01310792 - Sacramento, CA

Real Estate Broker - Sacramento CA Real Estate (916) 417-2699

It is always good to know that things like this exist. Haven't had a problem with a Seller needing this yet but I'm ever so glad to know about new gadgets...love gadgets.

Mar 13, 2007 06:56 AM

John Cilladi

Keller Williams Real Estate - Exton, PA

REALTOR, EcoBroker, e-PRO

We tell them to leave . . . How do they know when to return?

Circle the neighborhood till you see their car is gone?

I hope they remember to push the button!

Mar 13, 2007 09:10 AM

Kelli Fronabarger

Bend River Realty Inc. - Bend, OR

Realtor - Bend Oregon

I want one. What a cool little device...wish I'd have thought of it. Thanks for sharing : )

Mar 13, 2007 12:09 PM

Sherri Berry

Reliant Realty, Murfreesboro - Murfreesboro, TN

Murfreesboro TN Homes & Real Estate

I think it sounds wonderful but I'm wondering how many showing agents actually remember to push the button? Any statistics on how many scheduled showings actually result in the button being pushed? I still have sellers call to say there was no card left from the showing agent!

Mar 13, 2007 01:21 PM

Bill Faherty

Showing Beacon - Los Angeles, CA

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great comments and questions.... I've tried to answer all your questions below.

The Beacon is available in all of the states as well as Canada. The price of the unit is $34.95 and includes one free listing (for the life of the listing). Once the first listing is complete and you're going to move the Beacon to the next house you can select one of two plans. The per-listing fee, for the slower markets, is $20 for the life of the listing and the annual plan (as many listings as you like) is $50/year. We are partners with the Centralized Showing Service (they have 80,000+ agents) and they receive a discount on both the hardware and service.

The calling is done by our computer server. After you receive your beacon, you create your account through our website... register your unique beacon number and then put in the seller's information. Once the button is pressed, the computer looks up the information and starts making the calls. We call two phone numbers and send two text messages (the seller's agent always likes to get an email). A recorded message is sent to the seller as soon as the button is pushed.

The statistics we have show about 70-80% of agents will push the button when it is new in the market (who can resist pushing a big red button?). Once they understand what it does (after a couple of months in the market) most agents will push the button. The Beacon is normally placed on the door handle on the insided of the front door - so it can't be missed.

The cell phone idea mentioned above will certainly work. Some agents will be a little nervous about possibly getting into a "feedback" conversation with the seller... but anything that helps reduce the hassle of being out of the house is great.

Please visit our website if you have other questions or would like more information. We've tried to provide answers to all of the questions that get asked in our FAQ section. Our website is www.showingbeacon.com or you can call our toll free line to talk to our help desk (877.277.6622).

Thanks all,

Bill

Mar 13, 2007 07:03 PM

Renee Pomonis

Guild Mortgage - Beaumont, TX

Guild Mortgage Company

What a neat tool!!

Mar 14, 2007 09:03 PM

Maggie Dokic | Indialantic

Magdalena Dokic - Indialantic, FL

Selling the beach in Florida's space coast

Your post has been included in the week in review.

Mar 19, 2007 02:31 AM

Sandra Williams

Rancon Real Estate - Temecula, CA

I think this would be a great listing tool---my Sellers seem to love any like of trinkets and this would really save homeowners a lot of trouble.

Mar 20, 2007 05:00 PM

Rick Turner

Key Realty - Toledo, OH

Puts People In Their Places!!

Bill,

I could have used this last year with a client! He expected me to have mental telephathy as to exactly when a showing was over!

Thanks,

Rick Turner

Mar 21, 2007 01:43 AM

Bill Faherty

Showing Beacon - Los Angeles, CA

Sandra,

I really appreciate the great comment. We also realized that the Showing Beacon makes a great listing tool. In fact, we've provided some materials that our customers can download from the web for their listing presentation. It's a nice graphic that shows what a hassle a showing can be and how the beacon can really help the homeowner.

Thanks,

Bill

Apr 02, 2007 04:30 PM