What "time frame" window is appropriate for a showing?

[njsocks]

Originally Posted by lucyhoneychurch

I had many buyer's agents request a 2 hour window--once I had a conflict and asked if they could narrow it down to an hour and they agreed...I always felt as a seller that two hours was way too long and that if things were planned better an hour should suffice (my listing agent told me she thought the agents who asked for the long windows must have been newer as agents from 'her day' never needed more than 45-60 minutes). I also had pets and kids to remove from the house (as well as straighten up after and remove all evidence of LOL), so I asked for at least an hour notice on showings as well. Most agents complied but I had plenty who called from my driveway and asked if they could come that minute---they always said it was an out of town CASH buyer on his way to the airport and if he didn't see it now he never would--we needed to sell so I would take dinner off the stove, round everyone up and take off. Of course none of them ever made an offer....

I think these days SOME buyers and their agents think they can treat sellers rudely because they know these are desperate times...asking for long windows, showing up late without a call (just great when you've been driving around for two hours with 3 kids, a dog and a cat in 95 degree weather--you go back in the house--there is no card and the house looks as you left it so you just have to assume they have been there--the kids start playing with the legos and you start making dinner---the cat coughs up a hairball and then you hear the key in the door and HELLO, it's the buyers 30 minutes outside of their 2 hour window!), not showing up at all (again no call to say--I'm late, or don't think I'll make it today), tracking mud through the house--well, let's just say I'm glad my experience is over and I really feel for all of you still in the middle of it.

Lucy! You get reps from me! Wow, you just wrote what I was going to write for tonite's saga LOL... 90 degrees here, took my 4 1/2 year old twins out for 2 hrs.......and voila! no card, didn't even look like they showed!... And it was planned in advance *for once!*...Thank you for your support! It's nice to know what we sellers have to deal with.

[JustJoy]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

Same here. I make appointments about 24 hours in advance of showing.

I also try to schedule showings of vacant properties ( on lock boxes) later in the day because it does not matter if we are running late.

I put time and effort into grasping what the buyer needs/wants upfront, and execute an extensive interview and when possible, see their current home or at least pictures of it, the interior and furniture.

Early on in the relationship, before trust has been established, it is common for buyers to want to see a place we just drove bye. I know it won't work for them ....but they want to determine that for themselves. In these cases, the appointments tend to be more spontaneous.

Never has one of my clients made an offer on a spontaneous showing.
I do my homeowrk, so my clients do not have to do so.

I'd rep you and some others if I could, so all I can say is "and there you have it NJ'. There will always be situations where a special client comes along, but with proper scheduling, reviewing listings with a buyer before hand so an agent has a clear idea of what they're looking for then there's not a lot of need for huge showing time-frames. To me a 2 hour showing window of 6-8PM, especially with kids and when they could show up late, etc - well to me that should be considered one of those 'special situations' where that's literally the only time the buyers could come and for some reason the agent needed a 2 hour window. Fingers crossed they show up closer to the beginning of the showing window than later because they still have to have time to tour your house.

[froggin4colorado]

I added to the reputation too. Especially after 2 showings on Saturday not showing and then last nights showing was a no show. We had our new hot water heater installed in the evening and it wasn't finished by the time the showing was supposed to happen. So, I stayed home and figured I would just take myself and the kids outside while the buyers looked. BUT, they never showed up! So, I called my interested school custodian and told her to come on by.
I am at the point where I am ready to start staying home, despite how much people might not like that. But, after all the crud that has happened in my home while I am out and no offers, why not?! I have been with other family and friends as they house hunted and we went through homes with owners in them, even wrote up an offer with them in the house in front of them. Unusual, but it does happen. If you love the house, you love the house. If you don't like it, then you don't like it.

[brook2ga]

We had an agent knock on the door with his buyers waiting in the car. I told him to give me 10 minutes. He told me they love the exterior and the backyard was just what they wanted. They never did come inside. Go figure!

[froggin4colorado]

Crazy. Just goes to show that when you find "home", you just feel it.