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There seems to be a kind of norm depending on the area and the property. Big town or city and lots of fairly regular homes to show and appointments already set up, there's only so long a person can take and the realtor is moving them gently along. It can be a skill. Buyers can take 10 minutes if they don't feel the house is a match, or 20 minutes if they like it pretty well...and then schedule a second look another time for all the homes they liked best.
But if you've got a historic home with not many around for sale, the buyer can even be so intriqued that buyer and seller get into lengthy conversations about the history of the house, the construction, who the original owner was and what he did. Some things the owner may be better at talking about. And since many historic mansions are bought by people from out of town who can travel all over to find their dream historic home the showing can last a couple of hours since the prospective buyer is not staying in town long.
It also depends on the market.
Personally, I don't think people get a good enough feel for a house when they look at it at night. However, that's just me. People can want to see how the house feels when they walk in the door at night after work. But I do like to show my home when it's best features are showing. Seeing blue sky or trees through the skylights. Getting a sense of how the house is carried outside by the glass doors in the living room to the grass. And if you have one of the big ticket views it's really best seen in daylight...like a body of water or mountains or acres of woods.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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The last 2 weeks I've been out showing clients from 6pm to 9pm. Try to schelude the ones with kids earlier then vacant, bank owed or ones when the sellers they will be home later.
The latest we were asked to show our house was 7:00 - being in a desirable suburb within a very easy commute to NYC we expected evening showings but we only got a couple. I would have been willing to show the house, even with young kids, up till 8:30 or so...like accufit said, "buy it and pay us".
As far as notice, we spent the two weeks it was on the market cleaning it and picking up constantly, so even with 3 little kids it wasn't much of a problem to get out quick. Usually one of us would corral the kids and the other would do a sweep to make sure things were in order.
Thanks for the replies. It's interesting to see what everyone thinks.
What about the length of time to give them to look at the house? I would think an hour would be sufficient.
We were told to allow about 2 hours. If they are still there after 2 hours are up, it might be a good sign.
I think you allow 2 hours because they buyers might be looking at multiple houses, and might be a little late getting to yours.
You can ask for an hour's notice, but I wouldn't rule out something if you really want to sell your house. If you keep Saturday or Sunday as holy, and don't want one of those days disturbed, you can ask to not show your house on one of those days. We had that happen when we were looking.
When I was selling I don't think I ever got anything but one hour windows. I was never asked up front what I wanted so I assume this was just the standard.
I won't show after dark. Period. Not safe, and buyers can't really see the exterior/yard so they end up coming back during the daylight hours anyway.
Most sellers say no showings before 9 or after 7. It's totally up to them. If people can't get there during those times, they aren't really serious about buying a house. If they are serious, they will take some time off or go during lunch or right after work.
I won't show after dark. Period. Not safe, and buyers can't really see the exterior/yard so they end up coming back during the daylight hours anyway.
Most sellers say no showings before 9 or after 7. It's totally up to them. If people can't get there during those times, they aren't really serious about buying a house. If they are serious, they will take some time off or go during lunch or right after work.
That's how I feel. I will not show if dark outside. I won't make an appt from 8-9pm which is what someone was asking to see the house yesterday. They did reschedule for 6pm today though.
I've also got someone looking at the house today at 9am. I would definitely not go any earlier than that.
Last time I tried selling my house it was during the winter, I wouldn't show after 6pm only because that's about the time it started getting dark.
Yep, if people are really wanting to see the house, they will find the time and run over during lunch or after work.
Yesterday I also had someone requesting to see the house from 2pm-3:30. I was ok with that but I would not be ok if someone wanted a 2 hour block of time. That's just inconsiderate especially on a weekend....kind of reminds me of the cable company. They tell you they will be by anytime from 2-5 so you never know when to take off work. lol
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