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Every seller will be inconvenienced, its inevitable. The problem is magnified when you have kids.
One time I was on my way home from work and my wife was right in the middle of dinner. She got a call that a prospective buyer wanted to stop by in 20 minutes.
She got the kids ready, put the food in some tupperware and I met them in a parking lot by our home. We all ate dinner in my car!
Low and behold, these people were the ones to buy our home!
We still talk about it and laugh to this day...
When you put yourself out there (put your house up for sale), you need to expect the worst...
Lately I've been getting a huge influx of last minute showings.
I don't necessarily mind last minute showings, it's an annoying interruption but I knew to expect it. What I do mind, is the type of potential buyers and feedback I'm getting from most of these last minute showings:
"Loved home but beyond client's affordability."
"Clients may consider placing an offer once their home has sold."
(and my personal favourite) "Clients expect to list their home next week and are just trying to get a feel for what's available."
Why the urgency of last minute showings, then? I know realtors understand the major inconvenience last minute showings put upon sellers. So why even entertain the idea when the clients are clearly not yet in a position to buy?
I'm hoping somebody could shed a little perspective.
Non realtor here, but I find it interesting that, a year ago, it was hard to get a realtor to show me a place, without seeing preapproval letters in hand, and now, people are expecting their realtor to drop everything for a last minute showing.
I've stated on here before, that I would never list a property without asking for a 24 hour advance notice, and I would never ask a realtor to drop everything to show me a property today.
With everything available in todays society now, such as photos, pricing, neighborhood comps right online, to demand a realtor drop everything to show me a property today, for a property, that even if I do like it, takes a month to close, is a very unreasonable request of a buyer. I would suspect you have a family and household to maintain and would never want to hear that you had to cancel an event with your children to show me a home.
Most of my shoppers fly in to see land. While their in town they might see something their inst. in that they didn't know about or even would have though they could be inst.
in. Some will buy a house just to live in whiile they build on their dream land.
They have to fly out the next day or that evening. This is not uncommon at all. It's not common with my customers to want to see a house, but it has happened. I can tell you it's more than frustrating when the other broker wants 24 hours notice to show it no matter what. She won't even call the owners to see if they would be willing to have a last min showing. It's just her rule.
Other than what's already been stated, it could also be that the agent isn't qualifying properly. I personally do not take buyers who are 'just looking to see' what is available in the area for when they are ready to purchase to occupied homes. And I'm not in a rush about it. But, there are vacant homes here to show them and when we do showings down here many of the homeowners are out and about during the day working or whatever so they aren't really being disturbed. Another reason it might be so urgent is that the agent hasn't had prior contact about what the person wants to see. So, they make an appointment to meet at the office, go through the MLS, and then go out to look. There isn't time to give notice.
Perhaps we could combine some threads - start with this one, then add the one about the frustration a poster experiences whenever she wants to bring a prospective buyer to a home, and the listing agent insists on being present...
We could call it the "showing instructions" thread
...or perhaps "the common courtesy thread".
1. Discuss showing instructions with your agent.
2. Understand that some last-minute showings can't be helped. It truly may be the only opportunity for those people to see your home.
3. I do apologize for those agents who are not qualifying their buyers properly. They are wasting your time, their time, and the buyers' time.
4. Be patient... you will not be showing your home for the rest of your life.
5. Congratulations on all of your showings! The more showings you have, the more likely you are to have an offer!!!!!
"I/we are not buying anything" is my favorite.. ;-)
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