For the past month, I have been working intensely with buyers.  I am out many evenings and most weekends, showing buyers homes. But I am amazed, how difficult some agents make it to schedule a showing.  There are two practices an agent engages in that may turn away ready, willing and able buyers of your home.  Do you really want to know your agent could be turning away home buyers?

On top of it, as the home seller, you may never realize that showings have been denied.  While some agents do it unwittingly, other agents turn away home buyers for ulterior motives.

Keep in mind selling your home is partly a numbers game. The more people who see it, the better chance you have of selling your home for what you want.  Do you really want your real estate agent turning  home buyers?

One of the aspects of selling your home is paying attention to how a potential listing agent will handle showings.  This certainly should be a question you ask when hiring an agent.

Your Agent Could Be Turning Away Buyers

This has happened for years and is not isolated to this past weekend.  Some agents list properties and I cringe, knowing what a headache it will be to try and schedule with them.

But your agent has a fiduciary responsibility to act in your best interest.  Is turning away home buyers acting in your best interest?

Agents Who Schedule Their Own Showings

For a full time agent to be successful in real estate, they generally need to be working with multiple clients.  An agents day is spent managing transactions, meeting with clients, showing properties and myriad of other duties throughout the day.   They are not just waiting around for something to happen on your home.

We wont even talk about part-time agents that have a full time job or are managing a family.

I am always leery when an individual agent schedules their own showings.  While some agent are great at getting back to you, in my experience, many take forever to get back to you, if at all.

For example I called last Thursday morning for a showing on a property for Saturday morning.  I subsequently followed up with an email.   I received an email on Friday night saying the seller needs 24 hours notice they will need to go to the open house on Sunday if they want to see it.

Hmmmm……. Thursday to Saturday is 48 hours.  I gave you plenty of time.  It took the agent 36 hours to respond.  You should find that unacceptable as a  home seller.

But the problem is you probably never knew I tried to schedule a showing!!  It is not transparent, to you the home seller, that a showing was even lost.

Accompanied Showings

Accompanied showings are when an agent is there to a buyer’s agent in with their home buyers.  I won’t go into depth here but in general having a listing agent accompany showing for the average home is a bad idea.

You have the same issue as agents scheduling their own showings and getting them to respond in a timely manner.

But, the problem now arises where we have to accommodate a buyer’s schedule, a seller’s schedule, a buyer’s agent’s schedule and now add the listing agent!

Again, same buyer, same weekend.  I tried to schedule the same house 3 different times over the weekend.  This particular home required the listing agent accompany the showing.  Each time the listing agent said they were not available to show the property.

I wasn’t asking for crazy times.  My buyer client works weekends and is available before 10:30 and after 4.  10 am and 4:30 pm are pretty normal requests to see a home.

While we are in a hot seller’s market and homes are selling quickly how would you feel as a seller if mid week rolls around and you have no offers.  Or worse yet… if you are in a much softer market.

Yet each time this agent had an excuse, of they could not show the property….. go to the open house on Sunday was their response.

And yet again I am sure the seller never knew a showing was lost.

It also begs the question in both cases how many other potential buyers were turned away when they requested showings?

Buyers Schedules Are Different

Everybody’s schedules are different.  Between work and family obligations buyers need to fit in showings when they have an opportunity.

I have buyers that can only view homes on specific days, I have buyers who work weekends and cannot attend open houses.  I have buyers that work third and second shift and prefer to see homes in the morning, etc…It behooves the home seller to be as flexible as possible to accommodate the varied schedules of home buyers.

Often sellers forget that buyers aren’t usually seeing one home they will schedule several and sometimes they can be spread out over several towns.  They could be requesting a certain time because it makes sense for their showing schedule as well.   They may have to skip your home if a showing can’t be accommodated among other homes in a route that makes sense.

All it takes is that one buyer who sees the value in your home to get it sold…. but did your agent turn them away?

When you hire a listing agent it is their responsibility to have a system in place to accommodate every possible showing request.

The Solution is Simple

How I, and about 70% of my market, schedule showings is through a third-party showing company.  The great part is that is all they do… schedule showings for agents.  They are available by phone from 8am to 8 pm by phone.  Showings can be scheduled online or directly with a call.

It is just as easy as a seller to confirm the showing by a phone call or simple typing in a Y to respond to a text!  A lock box code is given to the showing agent and they can access your home for a showing.

The best part is it is transparent.  Each request is logged in immediately and you have a record of each request.  You are made aware of every possible showing immediately.

Same buyer as before….. we had 6 showings scheduled through the third-party services.  Scheduling was seamless, and showings were confirmed within minutes of requesting.

Don’t make the home seller’s mistake of hiring the wrong agent when listing your home.  Have a complete understanding of how they schedule showings.

Final Thoughts

Make sure your listing agent you are about to hire offers a solution that provide every home buyer the opportunity to see your house.

While the listing agent accompanying showings to “sell” the house may seem like a good idea to you, it can backfire in more ways than one.  Turning away home buyers because the listing agent can’t accommodate a home buyer’s schedule is only one of several reasons it could be a bad idea.

A listing agent scheduling their own showings is generally a bad idea. There is no way of making it transparent to the seller.  I have been using a third party showing system for 15 years and they have been quite popular for many years now.  It makes it so easy for the buyer’s agent, the listing agent and the seller.

One lost showing because your agent turned away a buyer is unacceptable.

Other Home Showing Resources:

• Bill Gassett   How Accompanied Showings Can Hinder Real Estate Sales
• Xavier De Buck   Rules of Engagement When Selling Your Home
• Sharon Paxson  Pro’s and Con’s of Using a Lock Box When Selling
• Realty Times   Which is Better Private Showings or Open House Visitors
• Kevin Vitali  What Are Those Denied Showings Costing You?

Your Agent Could Be Turning Away Buyers is written by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate.

If you would like to sell your home or buy a new home give me a call at 978-360-0422 and let’s get the process started.

Real Estate Services in the following areas: Northeast Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley, North Shore and Metrowest. Including the following communities and the surrounding area- Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Dracut, Groveland, Haverhill, Lowell, Melrose, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wilmington, Westford