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As for the length of time, if I like the house, I'm going to be there for a while, making notes and taking photos. I do not see any of this as disrespectful when I am contemplating such a major purchase
Same here. It's never occurred to me that there was some sort of guideline for how long you should be at a showing. I've never heard of such a thing until the other thread when the woman complained that people had been in her house too long. No realtor has ever said anything to me about their being an appropriate amount of time for a showing. To me, a long showing was always a great thing, whether I was the buyer or the seller.
When looking, I have spent anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the house & my interest level. When you're spending 1/4 million-3/4 million dollars to buy something, I don't see it as even slightly unusual to spend 2 hours checking things out. I would consider it unusual if you don't! Who knew there was some sort of 'correct' amount of time to be at a showing? I thought that was the entire reason that appts are usually 2hr range of time, so that allows for longer times at some of the showings & shorter times at others.
If you were serious about making an offer a house, especially one with a well, I would think you were crazy for not checking the water. Smell and color can vary so much and would definitely be a deal breaker for many.
(Me? I won't consider a house with a well at all.)
I've never looked at a house with a well
I don't think I've ever been in a house with a private well lol
I can see why one would want to do that
But for me that stuff is what the inspection is for
Same here. It's never occurred to me that there was some sort of guideline for how long you should be at a showing. I've never heard of such a thing until the other thread when the woman complained that people had been in her house too long. No realtor has ever said anything to me about their being an appropriate amount of time for a showing. To me, a long showing was always a great thing, whether I was the buyer or the seller.
When looking, I have spent anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the house & my interest level. When you're spending 1/4 million-3/4 million dollars to buy something, I don't see it as even slightly unusual to spend 2 hours checking things out. I would consider it unusual if you don't! Who knew there was some sort of 'correct' amount of time to be at a showing? I thought that was the entire reason that appts are usually 2hr range of time, so that allows for longer times at some of the showings & shorter times at others.
I am that woman who was complaining about the length of time the "rude" people spent.
Why is this so hard to understand?
The "rude" people had an appointment for 30 minutes and spent an hour and half until 8 pm. What if my kids were little and needed to go to bed?
Even that would have been tolerable if the people were ready and able to buy.
But IMO when you cannot make an offer, you have no business taking 90 minutes on the first visit to someone's home (unless it is vacant, which mine is not).
The people who are buying the home had quite a long showing on their first appointment. I thought that was a good sign and it didn't bother me. Why?
Because they came at 4:30 and left at 6:15. It wasn't in the middle of dinner hour.
And BTW both buyers who offered on the house left it just as they found it.
I said it upthread and I will say it again...this whole thread seems like an opportunity to bash all of those "sensitive" sellers (particularly me) and is looking for justification for OP's own bias.
Remember that after those people that hate your color scheme, decorating, etc., redo the house to fit their personalities, you will hate it as much as they hate your tastes. Don't let it bother you one way or the other.
I am that woman who was complaining about the length of time the "rude" people spent.
Why is this so hard to understand?
The "rude" people had an appointment for 30 minutes and spent an hour and half until 8 pm. What if my kids were little and needed to go to bed?
Even that would have been tolerable if the people were ready and able to buy.
But IMO when you cannot make an offer, you have no business taking 90 minutes on the first visit to someone's home (unless it is vacant, which mine is not).
The people who are buying the home had quite a long showing on their first appointment. I thought that was a good sign and it didn't bother me. Why?
Because they came at 4:30 and left at 6:15. It wasn't in the middle of dinner hour.
And BTW both buyers who offered on the house left it just as they found it.
I said it upthread and I will say it again...this whole thread seems like an opportunity to bash all of those "sensitive" sellers (particularly me) and is looking for justification for OP's own bias.
With all due respect, I have never heard of a 30 minute scheduled appointment - they have all been for a 1, or usually 2, hour window. People are often seeing more than one house at a time, and can't always guarantee how long they will take at any given house and want some flexibility in the schedule.
Additionally, it's not uncommon for people to make offers that are contingent on the sale of their own home, yes, even if their home wasn't on the market yet. It's not the smartest idea in the world IMO, but it happens all the time. Of course it's frustrating as a seller because you want the cleanest offer with the highest chance of a successful closing, but it's reality that people with less than ideal than circumstances will be viewing your house when it's for sale.
I'm not looking to bash sellers, and I happen to agree that there has been quite of lot of that in this and other threads. But I also think that there are many inconveniences inherent in the process of selling, and that in and of itself does not rudeness make.
I am that woman who was complaining about the length of time the "rude" people spent.
Why is this so hard to understand?
The "rude" people had an appointment for 30 minutes and spent an hour and half until 8 pm. What if my kids were little and needed to go to bed?
Even that would have been tolerable if the people were ready and able to buy.
But IMO when you cannot make an offer, you have no business taking 90 minutes on the first visit to someone's home (unless it is vacant, which mine is not).
The people who are buying the home had quite a long showing on their first appointment. I thought that was a good sign and it didn't bother me. Why?
Because they came at 4:30 and left at 6:15. It wasn't in the middle of dinner hour.
And BTW both buyers who offered on the house left it just as they found it.
I said it upthread and I will say it again...this whole thread seems like an opportunity to bash all of those "sensitive" sellers (particularly me) and is looking for justification for OP's own bias.
B/C you approved the showing. If it was inconvenient for you, you could have said no. I've never heard of a showing being for a particular amount of time. Maybe they are in your part of the country. My experience, in 3 different states has always been a 2 hour window & you can show up anytime within the 2 hrs & stay as long as you want. Never heard of anything else. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Never heard of a 'correct' length of time for a showing. I've had countless 1 1/2 hour showings & longer. I don't find that even slightly unusual. You do. Okay. I've never thought about what time of day a showing happens & how long it should take based on the TOD. I’ve honestly never thought about it at all. Perhaps that makes me rude. I guess I would expect that if it were an inconvenient time for the seller & they had some sort of rigid bedtime or dinner schedule they needed to adhere to, they would say no to the showing. Tons of showings happen at the "dinner hour" b/c that’s when people get off work. Never given it a 2nd thought. The person wants to sell their house, I'm going to come at the time that's convenient for ME. I'm the prospect. I've never heard of a prospect thinking about what time would be convenient for a seller. How would they even know? That's why the realtor sets up an appt & the seller either confirms or not.
And also, b/c when you sell your house, all these things just come with the territory. This is all really normal stuff IMO. Obviously, you disagree. Okay. Sorry, but to me, you sound like you've never sold a house before & that's ok, if that's the case. But, I posted, b/c I've sold about 10 & I don't think the things you experienced are not unusual in the least, so for other potential sellers, I want to alert them that this stuff WILL happen. It's ok to disagree. I do agree with you that it's VERY inconvenient. But I find it so odd when people choose (not saying you are doing this Calgirl) to do something that lowers their chances of achieving their goal. It makes no logical sense to me. The entire point of the house being on the market is to sell the property.
I don't see this thread as bashing you, it's just a discussion that someone was thinking about based on your thread, showing a different viewpoint. But, I don't see disagreeing as bashing. People have different viewpoints.
You keep saying they couldn't make an offer b/c their house wasn't for sale, but that wouldn’t give me a moment of pause b/c many people don't need to sell their house to buy another one. Some people are in a hot market & know they could sell their house in a day or two. Some people have relatives that help out. I don’t care how they get the money, just that they do. The realtor may have known they could technically do it with owning their house, so they took a chance. For whatever reason, the realtor felt they were a decent prospect for you, I figure that’s what I pay them for. Maybe it’s b/c I’ve been in sales (not real estate), that I know it’s all a numbers game & that people buy things all the time that aren’t quite what they had in mind or that they didn’t think they could afford or whatever. You never know which one is going to be THE one, so you have to bring them all. To me, that’s what I pay the realtors to do…to bring through every qualified prospect possible. They’re the professionals who know how to qualify, so I allow them to do so. They know the story behind the prospect, I don’t. Heck the first house we bought, we were a little short for, but the realtors together did a contract for deed for us, to lend us the add’l 10K we needed. We lived there 13 years. If we hadn’t been shown the property, it never would have happened. Stuff like that is super common in sales (not the realtors writing a CD part), people get creative all the time when they want something that it may not seem to YOU that they're in a position to buy.
In another thread, someone said your house was “vandalized”, sorry to me that’s just hyperbole or a misunderstanding. Some lights were left on & blinds were left askew & a drawer was opened, I see that as extremely typical. So, that’s ok, we can disagree. I just sold a house a year ago. I did not have 1 showing that left the lights the way I'd left them or that shut off all the lights. Like I said in the other thread, I even left a sign asking that the lights be left alone. It made no difference at all. I don't think it's rude though...I think people rightly are there to focus on their goal & not focused on my desires, so I get it. Sometimes that means they raise a blind, get in a conversation about the house & forget to lower it or they sit on a piece of furniture to determine if the TV angle is what they were thinking for the bedroom or they have to use the bathroom. I don't like it, but it's part of what I need to deal with to achieve my only goal. Why don't I understand? B/C I don't understand losing sight of the goal, over minutiae. But I get that you don't consider it minutiae. I just have a different POV.
ETA: I'm not even sure how anyone would have a clue what your "dinner hour" is. I don't usually eat dinner til 7:30-8PM. When I lived in MN, many people ate at 5 or 5:30. I think it's different for everyone, which is why you choose to allow a showing at that time or not.
Also some of the commentary is really contradictory. I am told I could have declined the showing if it were inconvenient, which I did not. Then I am told I need to do "everything possible to reach my ultimate goal" of selling the house. Well I did that, didn't I? I did let them in despite the short notice and despite being told by my own agent they were not ready to buy. So I vented on an Internet forum afterwards. So what?!
Also it's really presumptuous to assume I've never sold a house before. Maybe you could ask me instead. Once we realized we were moving, my husband and I spent 3 months getting the house as perfect as possible and spent thousands of dollars on new carpeting and other finishing details. We received multiple offers over asking in two weeks, so I would guess we aren't complete idiots.
All that said, I think the horse is beyond dead and I know it's time for me to move on from this topic.
Last edited by calgirlinnc; 07-15-2017 at 04:18 PM..
I think a lot of it has to do with "why" you are selling the home. If you are selling due to dire straits (divorce, job loss, etc.) then it can be an emotional battle. If you are selling due to needing more space, you just came into a significant amount of $$, new job/better opportunities, etc., then you look more forward to the NEW house and the OLD house becomes less significant to you.
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