Showing Your Home

1. Prepare to Be Flexible

As soon as your Realtor puts your home on the MLS and other online sites, you’ll start to receive calls from agents asking to show your home. The process of showing your home can be exciting but also burdensome if you still live in the home. However, it’s important to show your home to as many prospects as possible, especially during the first few weeks of putting it on the market. While a showing may not always be convenient or work with your schedule, especially those that come up at the last minute, we recommend making every effort to show the home whenever an agent calls to request a showing. Many times, home-buyers are short on time and have a limited amount of time they can devote to seeing homes and if a seller asks the buyer to come back another day, most times it will simply result in no showing at all.

Remember, home-buyers lives do not get put on hold just because they are looking for a home to buy, they still have to go to work, attend little league games, go to dance recitals, wash the car and tend their to busy lives just like the rest of us.  Therefore, many times home-buyers are short on time and they schedule showings with very little notice to sellers. If a prospect does call with a last minute request to view your home, simply ask that they give you 30 minutes, this will allow you to prepare the house, round-up the family and pets, and then leave your home for the potential buyer to come and view with their Realtor.

IMPORTANT ADVICE:  DO YOUR BEST TO REMAIN FLEXIBLE AND WELCOME ANY OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE YOUR HOME SHOWN. THE MORE SHOWINGS YOU ALLOW – THE SOONER YOUR HOME WILL SELL

2. Always Use the Supra Lock-box

Never open the door for an agent or buyer and never leave the front door unlocked. Use the lock-box provided by your REALTOR®, which will keep track of visitors and ensure only licensed active REALTORS® can access your home. If you have children, tell them not to let any strangers come inside your home, even if the person says they have an appointment. Tell the children to check with the parents first or to get someone they know to help them. If you are ever unsure about a potential prospect call your agent to verify that the showing appointment is scheduled or if things just do not seem right call the police or 911 if necessary then your real estate agent.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Using your lock-box has a number of advantages, including:

• More Showings – Lock-boxes enable agents to show your home more easily, which means more eyes on your house and a better chance of getting a great offer.

• Enhanced Safety – There are few ways to show your home that are as safe as the electronic lock-box . Not only can lock-boxes be programmed to let people in only during certain hours (ex: no later than 8:00 or 9:00 pm), but they also electronically keep a record of who’s opened them. This electronic record can help track down troublemakers, should any problems arise.

• Prospective Buyer Follow Up – Your Realtor can use the recorded information to follow up with buyers who passed on your house and ask them what they did & didn’t like about it.  This feedback  is used as a powerful marketing strategy that will ultimately help you and your Realtor make informed decisions and to better understand which changes or adjustments need to be made in order to make your home more attractive to home-buyers to get the offers coming in.

3. Turn All the Lights On

• Open curtains and blinds.

• Turn on all lights – fixtures, lamps, porch lights, garage, attic, basement- every light you can!

• Turn on CFLs at least 10 minutes prior to the showing. CFLs take longer than traditional bulbs to reach their full brightness, so give them time to warm up.

• Keep the lights on both day and night. Having your lights on at night creates a warm, homey feel and keeping the lights on during the day helps keep unflattering shadows created by the sun at bay

4. Clean Your Home Quickly – On a Moments Notice

5. Turn the Music Off

6. Leave Your Home

7. Have a Pet Plan

8. Leave a Few Snacks On The Kitchen Counter