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Maybe a way around this is to let the realtor know that you will be happy to accomodate their schedule, BUT, that you want a compilation of both negative and positive comments ... and will leave a small recorder on the kitchen counter for that purpose.
I would encourage my clients to pass on this house. A seller that makes seeing the home contingent on me giving them feedback is a crazy seller, IMO. If my clients really wanted to see it, I would tell them to not say anything while in the home.
I would encourage my clients to pass on this house. A seller that makes seeing the home contingent on me giving them feedback is a crazy seller, IMO. If my clients really wanted to see it, I would tell them to not say anything while in the home.
I caution my Buyers to be careful of what they say inside a home. With Nanny cams & the Internet, you never know who might be monitoring your visit.
I wouldn't mind showing a house where the seller is present if they are unable to leave. One option for a buyer in this situation is to request another showing without you present if they are seriously interested in the house. So the first showing could be for familiarization of the house and second showing can be a much more thorough 'inspection' where they come through and have the freedom to talk things over with their agent.
I wouldn't suggest taping anyone while they are in your home. Getting feedback is more difficult than it used to be. Seems that too many agents are too busy to respond. Thought, getting electronic feedback through the various showing service companies has helped quite a bit.
In our area, a 24-hr notice would blow away most showings. It isn't that buyer and their agents are trying to be rude, but agents are trying to accomodate the various buyers they are working with and a 24-hr notice just makes scheduling that much more difficult; especially as compared to the majority of sellers in our area that allow for a showing simply after making a phone call then using an electronic lockbox.
The more restrictions you put on showings, the more agents will just skip on by versus deal with it. In my last sale they knew they could pretty well show it 24/7 with little notice.
Hi! I'm back. Thanks so much for all the advice and opinions (and the note on a post rating, thanks!). I don't really mind if people come to see the house while I am working--I just may not be able to leave for other than a short walk and sometimes not at all. They can still come on fairly short notice--that won't be a problem. We are prepping right now and it is not going to be an issue to keep it show ready virtually 24/7. We're going for "vacation rental house" in terms of staging and what is left. I took this week off to pack most of our belongings and get them squared away at a storage unit. So, there won't be much pickup other than litter boxes and whatever dishes might be in the sink (minimal, we won't really cook much for a while).
I have sold two houses before, so I sort of have an idea of what to expect, but it's been a while (2005) and things are different now in some ways. I know for darn sure I was not going to list this house until it was as good as I could get it and 100% ready to go, including staging and all repairs that I can find. Been there before and did not enjoy that. It's much better to get it all done before you're on display.
Thanks again--you guys are quite helpful and it is much appreciated!
I don't know about showings, but I can tell you I have done hundreds of inspections while the homeowner is home working. It has never been a problem. Without exception, they have always stayed in the "office" and not interfered with the inspection process.
When it comes time to inspect that room, they either step out for a moment, or I just work around them.
I have a bigger problem with home owners leaving their animals loose in the house while the inspection is scheduled. You ever tried to call a dog that runs out when you don't know their name? Or herd cats?
Or worse....see photo.
My target date for the house being listed is March 1st. Before, if I get completely done. Today is "take stuff to the dump day." I am taking a short break before my second and last load. Later this afternoon is "offload all the christmas stuff to the storage unit" time. WOO good times. I can't wait until it's take an old toothbrush to the tub grout day. My original target date was last fall but that turned out to not be realistic after life happened a couple of times and knocked us around a little (it's all fine now).
Anyway, I could accommodate people coming to see the house on short notice but there is every possibility that I won't be able to pack up the kitties and take off. I just literally can't. I could possibly step out and take a short walk, leaving the animals in a carrier or something like that (weather permitting), but from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m. during the week, it's a no-go for me to take off in the car to accommodate a showing. I would be ok with people coming over, that's fine, and I would be able to get up to let them check out the room I will be in, that won't be a problem 90% of the time. There may be times when I literally would not be able to leave my desk, though. My job is not one that requires me to be on the phone or anything, so I will be basically silent while I work, but there are multiple times during any given week when I literally cannot stop what I am doing.
I think the best I am going to be able to do is make sure the house is show ready every night before I go to bed and then just have a "call first" requirement so I know when to expect people. I expect most showings M-F will be during hours other than this anyway, but is there any other solution I'm not thinking of?
Are you using a realtor? If you are selling FSBO...I personally would just limit the viewing times to the hours between 1:30-4:30pm M-F I don;t think that is such a bad time. Of course there are those folks that will want to view after work hours...Do you have plans for that? How about Saturdays??
I think being in the home when prospective buyers walk through is awkward, unless you are selling it yourself w/out an agent. Interesting thread, please keep us updated. Good luck on your home sale.
No, we are definitely using an agent. I do not have the kind of personality that attempting a FSBO sale would require. People could get hurt . I'm a cheerful introvert, but an introvert nonetheless.
I'm good with any showings/viewings anytime, even in the morning while I am working. Obviously if we had a thing we were doing, that would be different. But we don't have those very often and we will try to plan to keep that sort of thing to a minimum while the home is on the market. I am very committed to doing whatever I can to make the process go smoothly and as quickly as possible, because I absolutely do not like having my house on the market. I am a private person and it really messes with my head. I want it to be quick and painful, not slow and agonizing. We'll just have to see how it all works out.
I took a week off work last week to work on house prep and we are much closer to the endgame, thank goodness. I have about 7 more weeks to the beginning range of my target listing dates, and I think we are going to make it.
Yesterday we had the people who responded to my Freecycle ad come and pick up some big stuff that we no longer need but were unable to move out of here ourselves. That felt like a stroke of genius once we did it. Two TVs including one big screen and a 25 cf freezer are out the door. Yay!
Anyway, I am trying my very best to remove every obstacle/objection/whatever that it is in my power to remove. I guess this is just one of those immovable ones that I can't really do much about, like "location." All I can do is say the house is available even on short notice, but from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. there is a decent chance I will not be able to leave.
No, we are definitely using an agent. I do not have the kind of personality that attempting a FSBO sale would require. People could get hurt . I'm a cheerful introvert, but an introvert nonetheless.
I'm good with any showings/viewings anytime, even in the morning while I am working. Obviously if we had a thing we were doing, that would be different. But we don't have those very often and we will try to plan to keep that sort of thing to a minimum while the home is on the market. I am very committed to doing whatever I can to make the process go smoothly and as quickly as possible, because I absolutely do not like having my house on the market. I am a private person and it really messes with my head. I want it to be quick and painful, not slow and agonizing. We'll just have to see how it all works out.
I took a week off work last week to work on house prep and we are much closer to the endgame, thank goodness. I have about 7 more weeks to the beginning range of my target listing dates, and I think we are going to make it.
Yesterday we had the people who responded to my Freecycle ad come and pick up some big stuff that we no longer need but were unable to move out of here ourselves. That felt like a stroke of genius once we did it. Two TVs including one big screen and a 25 cf freezer are out the door. Yay!
Anyway, I am trying my very best to remove every obstacle/objection/whatever that it is in my power to remove. I guess this is just one of those immovable ones that I can't really do much about, like "location." All I can do is say the house is available even on short notice, but from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. there is a decent chance I will not be able to leave.
You are doing fine with your approach.
Buyers agents know we don't live in a perfect world.
Of course, we prefer to enter a home with all lights on, a note to leave them all on, and the place immaculate, with no homeowner present.
You can control almost all of that, and just need to be engaging in your showing instructions. You might have your agent say something like: "Owner works from home and may not be able to leave in the mornings, but will stay out of the way if he cannot leave. After 1:00, he will vacate, so you may prefer to schedule showings in the afternoon."
One point, if you have to inconvenience buyers in any way, make sure your home shows well to reward their efforts.
Better to have them say, "I am glad we made the effort/rescheduled/went out of our way to view THIS! Nice!" rather than, "We jumped through hoops to see THIS?! Sheesh..."
Um, Barking Spider. What is that on your leg? I am afraid to ask. But I have to know. It looks kind of terrible. And like it is still IN your leg.
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. I'm a cheerful introvert, but an introvert nonetheless.
