Home Selling Tips

Handling Showings

I think handling showings is one of the more stressful components to selling your home. For one thing, you need to constantly keep your home clean and be ready to leave on a moments notice. It's great if your home sells quickly so you don't have to deal with this for too long.

At this point in the sales process you should have staged your home and set your price, now here's what you should be prepared for as people begin viewing your home:

• You set the rules for showings and give these instructions to your listing agent. These could be time-restrictions like, "no showings before noon," or other request like, "remove shoes."



• Showing agents call the listing agent's office to schedule a showing. That office will have instructions on how to contact you to schedule the showing and what to tell the showing agent. You will not have to talk to the showing agent.



• You generally get at least one hour's notice before a showing. Most (but not all) real estate agents are professional enough to understand how difficult it can be for you arrange your day around a showing and will usually call in the morning for an afternoon showing, or in the afternoon for a showing on the following day.



• It's best to leave the home during the showing. Buyers are never comfortable viewing a home while the seller is present.



• You may get requests for agent previews. This means a real estate agent would like to view your home before bringing any clients. This is fairly common when agents work with clients that don't have a lot of time to view properties, like those who are relocating from out-of-state. The agent may decide that your home isn't a good fit for his/her client or he/she may be back a day or two later with the clients. Previews are generally done very quickly and most agents do not seem to mind if you are home during the preview.



• Agents ought to leave their business card. This lets you know that they in fact did show your home and who they were.



• If you notice something wrong after a showing (something stolen, broken, out-of-place, door left unlocked, etc.) you should let your listing agent know about it immediately.



• Your listing agent should call the showing agent the next day to gather feedback and then share this information with you in a timely manner.



• Often, if a client likes a property the buyer's agent will schedule a second showing. This is when you really should make your property look its best.

Step 5: Contract Negotiation...