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Have any of the sellers or realtors here experienced this - people coming to a showing with small, overly-spirited children in tow. So the parents, instead of actually looking at the house and absorbing what they are seeing, spend the entire showing wrestling their kids off the furniture and pets, yelling at their kids, trying to corral them. The whole time you are taking them through the house, you can see they are not looking at anything, they are nodding "yes" but you can tell they are not seeing anything because they are too busy fussing with the kids who are irritable and bored and misbehaving.
One couple who came to a showing at our house has a mother-in-law one town over and they could have easily left the kids with her for the hour (in fact, the woman even commented, "we probably should have left the kids with my mother-in-law").
I just don't understand what these people are thinking.
a good number of my clients are from out of town and relocating. Some are coming from over seas assignments to get into a house as quickly as possible.. anyway, they HAVE to bring kids. they don't have anyone to use to watch them. As an agent I am prepared for kids of all ages:
I drive a mini-van with electric doors (easy in and out). I have a built in Video Player (with headphones, lol) and bring a bunch of movies. I also throw in books, etc from my son (age appropriate). And I will even do coolers with waters, juices, and some snacks. I have many kids who will ask to just stay in the car and watch their show.
Ummm...that's just how it is. When we bought this home several months ago, we took out toddler twins to EVERY showing. Why? B/c we were from out of town and had no one to look after our kids. (The grandparents were in different states) We were renting an apartment while our home sold in another state...I guess we could have left the kids in the apartment by themselves while we looked but I don't think the county child services would have liked that
From the parents stand point-it is NO FUN looking at homes while kids are in tow...No one wants to be chasing their children while looking to make a big purchase-but sometimes it just has to be that way.
When we bought our current home (bought in Jan) we brought the kids to the showing. It actually worked well b/c we IMMEDIATELY saw that the layout was perfect for two toddlers...We looked at this home for about 25 minutes, went straight to the realtors office and submitted an offer that night. It may irritate you, but know it isn't fun for the parents either. Most parents I know would love to have a few hours to themselves looking at homes!
You are frustrated b/c you are on the market-I get it as I was in your shoes last year. (took 7-8 months for our home to sell) But don't worry about what the parents are seeing and not seeing. Parents have eyes all over their bodies that people don't know about and they are seeing what they need.
Good luck to you!
Maybe an idea for parents who MUST bring their kids is that one parent sits in the car with the children or takes them for a walk around the neighborhorhood (or to a local playground) while the other tours the house, and then they switch. This way, each adult has an ininterrupted tour where they can really focus on the showing.
Maybe an idea for parents who MUST bring their kids is that one parent sits in the car with the children or takes them for a walk around the neighborhorhood (or to a local playground) while the other tours the house, and then they switch. This way, each adult has an ininterrupted tour where they can really focus on the showing.
We have twins that are 3 1/2 and we take them to the playground BEFORE we go to any showings!! It can get hairy and I do not want to deal with it....so I burn them out at the playground! We have no babysitter for them..(not as of yet!)
Parents know how to multi-task. People may perceive us as not taking it all in or paying attention, but we are fully aware of what is going on around us. Taking my kids on showings has never stopped me from deciding which house I wanted to buy or writing a contract.
Having said that, it is still no excuse for poor behavior. As much as I understand having to take children to showings....yes I have always taken my kids with me for much of the same reasons Twinmma stated, I would not want any children touching my stuff or climbing on my furniture. My own kids don't do it at our home or someone else's.
There are two separate issues here: poor behavior and the "perception" of parents being distracted.
There is no way in the world that I would leave someone else's kids in my car. There has to be ENORMOUS liability issues, quite apart from the fact that I thought it was illegal to leave kids in cars in the States.
You just have to muddle through somehow, although out of control kids and viewing real estate are two things which do not go well together.
Maybe an idea for parents who MUST bring their kids is that one parent sits in the car with the children or takes them for a walk around the neighborhorhood (or to a local playground) while the other tours the house, and then they switch. This way, each adult has an ininterrupted tour where they can really focus on the showing.
That's funny...you don't have kids do you? (Just playing with you, lol!) We tried that with ours, but they get restless and who can blame then. It didn't matter if we had videos or other toys, they didn't want to sit in the car. Kids are smart and they want to be where the action is. Plus some kids have problems being away from mom and dad and would not sit in the car. (and, I think that is kind of irresponsible...just how long is one leaving their child in the car unattended?...Anything could happen...someone could try and steal them, the car...the car could slide out of gear and roll down if on a hill...There are a host of things that could go wrong)
Sellers just need to deal with it...A lot of homebuyers are families! And parents need to watch their children and make sure they are being good.
We have twins that are 3 1/2 and we take them to the playground BEFORE we go to any showings!! It can get hairy and I do not want to deal with it....so I burn them out at the playground! We have no babysitter for them..(not as of yet!)
We take our kids in our own car to any showings..
I wish we could have done that. We bought in the dead of winter...plus mine were just walking...not really ready for the playground. Now that they are older, thank goodness for parks, lol!
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