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I know it defies conventional wisdom but I have found no correlation between the amount of time spent by a buyer at a listing or the thoroughness of the examination with the likelihood that an offer would be made. For me, it just hasn't happened that way. OTOH, I would say that the shorter the visit the greater the likelihood that there was no way they would consider the property. Go figure!
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I would say I am an unusual homebuyer. For both of our homes, we bought them after walking through just one time - probably spending 20 minutes in each one. I am very particular about certain things, like lot, number of bathrooms, layout, etc. Most of that I can find out ahead of time. I don't care about small details so much. So once I see a lot I like and a location I like, I know pretty quickly whether the house will meet our needs. Both times I bought it was a hot market, so I didn't have much choice of taking a long time to decide.
I normally buy fixers, so 2 hours is normal for me if it is a house I am serious about . I am basically doing a whole house inspection, often without the realtor. If it's an inconvenient time for someone, for example if I am with a realtor, I will come back and do the inspection at a second showing, of course.
I have never looked at a house that was occupied, though. I would not be able to see the things I need to see, with people's furniture and possessions in the way. (Edit: Oops, yes I have; apartment buildings. Maybe 10 minutes per apartment, and another hour or so in the common spaces, inspecting the exterior, etc.)
I also photograph everything -- all walls, rooms, yard, etc. Too often I get home and think, 'Was there room to add on, there? Is this other wall structural? Which side was the fireplace on?'
I had an appt one day for someone to view my home at noon. I get a call from the real estate appt people to let me know the people will be there in about 10 minutes. I leave and go run some errands.
I come back in about an hour and they are still there. I figure they will leave shortly so I pull into a neighbor's driveway (they are on vacation) and just wait it out. A half hour passes and they are still there.
I text my realtor to let her know we may get an offer because this couple is staying a long time. I sit in my car and watch the couple finally come out of the house. They are in the yard staring at the roof and pointing...roof is new and fine..nothing wrong there so don't know why they are pointing.
They then walk out in the street and study the neighbors homes. They point and stare and point then walk around to side of my house. Then they are all pointing to my roof again. They chat some more and look again at neighbors.
Here I am sitting in car watching to see what they are doing. I was so afraid they would walk up the the house I was at. lol
They were probably at my house close to 2 hours. I never heard back from them at all. I was at least hoping to get some feedback about the roof and why they kept pointing and staring at it, but no feedback.
Later that day I get another request from another person to view my home and they bought it so it was a happy ending but still curious why that couple stayed so long and what was their issue with the house.
When I was buying and looking at houses, sometimes I would just pull up to the house and not even get out or if I thought it had potential I'd at least go look but once inside I had a good idea if I was going to like it or not. If I stayed a long time, then there would have had to be some interest or I wouldn't waste my time.
I have clients that stay 10 minutes and others that stay an hour. The hour people stay that long even if they don't like it from the beginning. Just a personality thing. You can't tell by the length of the showing whether they will make an offer.
When I sold in Texas, before becoming a Realtor, we had buyers come to our house 4 times without ever making an offer. We were ready to start charging admission fees :-)
I would say I am an unusual homebuyer. For both of our homes, we bought them after walking through just one time - probably spending 20 minutes in each one. I am very particular about certain things, like lot, number of bathrooms, layout, etc. Most of that I can find out ahead of time. I don't care about small details so much. So once I see a lot I like and a location I like, I know pretty quickly whether the house will meet our needs. Both times I bought it was a hot market, so I didn't have much choice of taking a long time to decide.
Me too.
If someone wanted to see my house at 8 a.m. I would need to know why. And if it was "they just like to get out early" I'd have to consider that before agreeing. My parents and are like that and are early for everything. I've got a million stories about those two!
I have clients that stay 10 minutes and others that stay an hour. The hour people stay that long even if they don't like it from the beginning. Just a personality thing. You can't tell by the length of the showing whether they will make an offer.
When I sold in Texas, before becoming a Realtor, we had buyers come to our house 4 times without ever making an offer. We were ready to start charging admission fees :-)
Honestly - and it's not just your post I'm responding to - I don't understand some of the negativity on this forum.
Of course you can't tell solely by the length of a showing, whether or not they will make an offer. But I think it's safe to say that staying longer is a better sign than walking in and walking out in five minutes. I have never known anyone to buy a house they looked at for five minutes!
We may not get an offer from these people, but all I know is that the feedback is that it's their top pick and they are making a decision today.
So even if they don't make an offer, that's good feedback. The price range of our house doesn't move quickly in our area, but at least all the feedback we've gotten so far has been very positive from all showings. The reasons for not making an offer were reasons we can't change:
1. It doesn't have a pool and they found a house that did have one - thirty years older home but they wanted a pool, so I can't argue with that reasoning. Their final decision was between our home and that one, so at least we made "top tier."
2. The yard is too big - too much trouble for an older couple even though they loved the house itself. Even with the big yard, they kept it on their short list and for all I know, it may still be a consideration - this was just a few days ago.
3. This couple - at the top of their list and they will make a decision today.
That's the only feedback I've gotten so far, but at least it's all good. And no one has mentioned any negatives that I can correct (price, condition, clutter, etc).
So - it's all good. It's only been on the market for three weeks and the average time on the market for homes in this price range around here is about four months. Four months will take us into the holiday season so if it doesn't sell by then, we will just take it off the market till next spring. No biggie!
Back to the negativity thing - it's not like I'm considering selling my firstborn into slavery, or committing hari kari if we don't get an offer from these people. Thankfully, we're not desperate to sell, we just WANT to sell, and that makes a difference in our attitude. I just find the whole process interesting, and of course, since I want to sell the house, I hope we get an offer. And good showings are required to get an offer, generally speaking.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 08-30-2013 at 11:09 AM..
If someone wanted to see my house at 8 a.m. I would need to know why. And if it was "they just like to get out early" I'd have to consider that before agreeing. My parents and are like that and are early for everything. I've got a million stories about those two!
Come to find out, they were leaving to go out of town right after the showing, for an appointment. That makes some sense, though it was definitely inconvenient to me. Oh well. In this market at our price point I will make some concessions for qualified buyers!
If I have a house listed, I want to sell it. So if a buyer wants to look at 8:00 AM, I will show the house at 8:00 AM. I'm not telling any potential buyer that I won't let them look at my house.
When I am buying, and I decide I want a house, I look in every cupboard, at all the plumbing (that means under the sinks), check all the light fixtures, check the water pressure, taste the water, test the drains, shake every fence post in the fence to make sure the fence will stay up.........
A few of those things might be a deal killer, but mostly I am evaluating how expensive it will be to repair and if there is any water damage or musty smells. I'd rather have money off the price and do my own repairs than to have the seller do them.
I can't even imagine buying something that costs $200,000 and not even looking at it except a brief casual look at the surface. Some people spend more time looking at the car they buy than at the house they buy. For that much money, I want to know what I am getting.
If I have a house listed, I want to sell it. So if a buyer wants to look at 8:00 AM, I will show the house at 8:00 AM. I'm not telling any potential buyer that I won't let them look at my house.
When I am buying, and I decide I want a house, I look in every cupboard, at all the plumbing (that means under the sinks), check all the light fixtures, check the water pressure, taste the water, test the drains, shake every fence post in the fence to make sure the fence will stay up.........
A few of those things might be a deal killer, but mostly I am evaluating how expensive it will be to repair and if there is any water damage or musty smells. I'd rather have money off the price and do my own repairs than to have the seller do them.
I can't even imagine buying something that costs $200,000 and not even looking at it except a brief casual look at the surface. Some people spend more time looking at the car they buy than at the house they buy. For that much money, I want to know what I am getting.
I totally agree. What I usually see is people doing level of inspection ONLY if they are very interested in the property. If there's not a significant amount of interest - for instance, if they just don't like the neighborhood, or the floor plan, or the price per square foot, etc etc - then they aren't going to waste time looking at every nook and cranny, calling back for additional information on systems, that sort of thing. I think by then - usually - is that it means that BARRING SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION or a change of some detail such as finding a home they like better, or deciding not to move, or not go up to that price level, etc - the house is a strong contender.
That's all I mean by being interested in how closely they looked at the house.
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. I am basically doing a whole house inspection, often without the realtor. If it's an inconvenient time for someone, for example if I am with a realtor, I will come back and do the inspection at a second showing, of course.
