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Boy, I remember being in that situation. We were never so happy as we were the day we scrubbed down the house for the final time after leaving it staged for showings, and then got into our little family caravan and headed for our newly chosen home town. I know the traditional wisdom is that an occupied house shows better, but I think there is a lot to be said for staging it with minimal furniture and then leaving. I think houses where agents don't have to "call for showings" get much more traffic, too.
We just left our kitties in the house when we lived there and had showings, along with a note or a warning to the agent that they were indoor cats. We did have to take the dog with us. She had a really good time that season--"Car? Again! Car? Me? MEEEEE CARRRRR YAYYYYYYYYYYY" was always the look I would see on her little dog face.
I can relate to your story. We had our home on the market when I gave birth to our first child. I came home from the hospital and a realtor called to say they wanted to show the home within the hour. I just had to go with the flow! (we sat on the patio & it was hot in FL at the time)
We had two "oopsie" moments:
(1) our realtor forgot to tell us about the realtor caravan/ open house. All of the sudden, a mob of realtors appeared at the door. Our two small dogs were running crazy and piddled on the floor when someone tried to pet them before I could round them up. One of the realtors pointed out the puddle to me (talk about embarassing!) The home was not really show ready either. Luckily, this was before I had the baby!
(2) One morning (when I was home with the baby, age about 2 weeks), a realtor called and said he wanted to show the home at 1PM. I sprung to action, vacuuming the floors because my husband couldn't be bothered to do it like I asked him the night before. Yes, I was mad and frantic. So there I was, with the vac roaring, when I thought I heard a noise. I finally turned it off, and heard someone out in the living room call out "Hello?" Yikes! This was 2 hours before they were supposed to be there. What makes this a truly funny story (in hindsight) is the fact that I was totally topless at the time. Yes, a few more steps and those buyers would have been in for a show! (it was the early days with a new baby, and I was trying to feed him and just make it through everything! LOL)
All I can say is hang in there. One time, we had to go out & sit in our truck in the middle of a Florida thunderstorm with the baby. The couple who ended up buying the home was in it for no more than 10 minutes. I guess they knew what they wanted!
LOL! Those are funny stories. You must've wanted to sell way worse than me. I wouldn't sit outside in a thunderstorm even w/o a baby!! And if I had the inkling those people weren't going to buy my house, I might've just flashed them! That would give them nightmares (in my case, not yours) for the rest of their lives!!!
Thanks for sharing your story. It really made me chuckle!
I can relate. If I may suggest, maybe you can have a sit down with listing agent and comeup with a plan that you can live with. For example, when I listed a home, my client asked not to put-up a sign or that ugly "keyholder" on the door knob. I had to accomodate client - yet - find a solution to sell home. Maybe if you give your agent certain days and times of when to show ie., Tues & Thurs 11:00 am -3Pm and Sat. 11am -3pm (but she has to give you 24hours notice)
try this and I hope it works out for you and kitties.
Wow! I'm glad I sold my house when I did (Fall of 2007). Back then, and it was a buyers market, I told agents I needed to be called the day before and it worked out fine. I sold my house myself with an MLS package. Left a key in the mailbox for the buyer's agent to use when they came by and I hid the kitty litter and took my cat with me and left for a half hour or until the cars in the driveway were gone.
I NEVER would be able to handle spur the moment drop ins. YIKES! All you guys are going thru that now?
I have not found that to be the case. Most agents who are showing my home are very professional and very organized. They know ahead of time and they call me usually the day before and set an appointment. I have had a couple of last-minute showings, but they're very polite and very grateful, the agents and the clients, and thank me profusely for allowing them into my home on short notice. I haven't had the feeling even one time that the buyers feel like they have the upper hand and I should be grateful to have them looking at my home. Not even close. It's only my husband and I and my house is show-ready at all times. First thing in the a.m. bed is made. Dishes are washed as they're used. Countertops are always wiped down. Stove is wiped down as it's used, et cetera. Selling hasn't been stressful at all for me.
I combated early arrivals for showings, or unannounced showings, by locking the storm door when I was home and not expecting a showing. With the storm door locked, no one was able to get to the lock box. I did so with my agent's blessing.
This was a blessing several times, including once when I was in the shower, and heard people banging on the screen door.
Okay my home has only been on the market for 3 weeks. I don't think I can take it. My agent calls everytime the house is being shown which is sometimes one or twice a day and I always have to get up and leave and find something to do with my time and place my kitty cats in the garage. It is a huge inconvenience. One time I was in the middle of coloring my hair and the agent stopped by without calling. It was horrible.
Do people normally rent out a room somewhere when selling or stay with family members. How do others handle this? I know it is a slow market. I don't know if I can take months and months of this.
One thing you should be happy people are looking at your home. But your agent can put in the listing notes to agents to give notice. Like if you would like a hour notice or more. In this market buyers are looking at 20 to 30 homes a day so you have to be ready and have the house spotless.
You are competing with thousands of houses on the market right now so you have to have the home available and clean. If you can afford to move to a rental it would be nicer, that way the home can be showed anytime and your not inconveanced. Also make sure the home is clutter free and clean of any cat smells. Good luck selling your home
In this market buyers are looking at 20 to 30 homes a day...... /quote]
This is absolute insanity on the part of the buyer and the agent.
Agree. Total waste of everyone's time especially in this internet era and the agent is doing a disservice to both the client and the seller.
Just goes to show you that those doing this have absolutely no plan whatsoever.
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