Thursday, July 10, 2008

“Easy to Show”- Music to my ears!

When I’m hunting down properties to show to buyers I love to see the words “Easy to Show” in the listing. Another good phrase is “Vacant-Show anytime”.

On the other hand, making showings difficult is a good way to keep your house from selling. How about these:

-Make Offers Contingent Upon View Interior
-Do Not Disturb Tenants
-Day Sleeper- No showings before 4 pm
-Agent Must Be Present For All Showings

I know that sometimes the circumstances can sometimes make showings terribly inconvenient, however, please know that putting any kind of restrictions on showings when your home is for sale will reduce the number of buyers that see your home. Even something simple like requiring 2 hours notice.

I also know you can’t always show your home at the drop of a hat, but again and again I’m out showing homes in a neighborhood and the buyers notice one for sale across the street and want to see it too! I hate to tell them that we’ll have to wait and do it another day.

The goal is to make it easy to show, at least as easy as possible.

On a side note, I believe this is even true for investment properties. These are often difficult to show if there are tenants involved. That's understood, but at least try to upload some interior pictures to see it it's worth the hassle to show. Even just a couple pictures of the inside help buyers get an idea of the home and decide to take a look. Without any interior pictures, people assume the worst and skip it. They assume that it looks terrible; otherwise there would be pictures, right?

So, the home-selling lesson for today is…
1. Make it “Easy to Show”
2. Have lots of fantastic pictures

Thinking about it? Give me a call.
-Peter

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