Showing Your Home

Once you have prepared your home for getting it on the market by doing a thorough cleaning, make any needed repairs and have de-cluttered and staged, you should be ready to list your house and get it “on the market”. You will probably have discussed with your agent what the process is for showings- how much time do you want to have before a showing, and what, if any special preparations will be needed- pets, children, aging parents, etc.

Advanced planning and good communication will go a long way towards having smooth showings. Most agents in this area use Showingtime to schedule showings. Agents contact the showing service to request a time frame that they can show your property, and the service in turn calls you. They will generally ask for a time range of an hour to two hours for the property to be available for a showing. This is when it is helpful to keep the property as neat and tidy as possible, because while 24 hours’ notice is great- it’s not always possible and you may lose a showing if it’s not available during the requested timeframe.

Prepare for the Showing

Before leaving the house and before the agent arrives, make sure all rooms are tidy, the kitchen countertops, range top and sinks are clean, bathroom sinks, shower and toilet are cleaned & toilet seat is down. Turn on lights and check to be sure of no lingering odors. Do not overdo the room fresheners, it’s a real turn off to most people to have to deal with a different scent in each room and it makes them wonder “why” they are needed.

There may be times you will not be able to leave the house and while it’s best to not be there, at least try and give the potential buyers some breathing space by stepping outside. They may well make comments that you probably don’t want to hear (not everyone has the same taste) and they will feel much more relaxed to begin the process of seeing themselves in this potential new home. This process may take 10 minutes or they may stay for a good deal longer. Remember, they may have a full schedule- and they may just be doing a quick look to decide if they want to come back.

After the Showing

After they have left, you should receive feedback from the showing service or from your agent. This is provided by the showing agent and it is customary, but not mandatory, so if they don’t want to provide feedback, that’s their choice. But if they do, take it with a grain of salt- some agents are tactful, some are not, some really put a lot of thought in their feedback, some do not. But, if there are consistent references and comments- discuss those with your agent. It may be an indication that the price is not correct or something has been overlooked and needs addressing.

Lastly, be patient, this is a slow process and when you are least expecting anything…you may just get an offer!