The goal of the College Station home Seller is to sell their property for the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time. It is the job of the Seller's Realtor to ensure the home showings cause as least stress for the seller as possible. 

When it is time for the Seller to put their house up for sale, the last thing they want is their daily routine completely disrupted. A good Listing Agent will want to help the Seller keep their routine as normal as possible. 

However, it is very important to realize that the way a Seller regulates the showings of their home, and the way their Realtor conveys those instructions to other Buyer's Agents, will make a dramatic difference in how fast the house sells and the price the Seller ultimately receives. This is the difference between a quick sale at top dollar and a listing that stays on the market for an extended time, or even worse; a listing that ends up expiring.

     A Buyer that likes the look of your property, is ready to buy, and / or is in a position where they have to make a decision fast, it is a good buyer.  A Buyer will go from house to house at all hours of the weekday and weekend searching for the property that is right for them. When they are excited about a house, their Agent will want to keep that interest going and get them inside the property fast.

Homes that are difficult to show will result in many missed Seller opportunities. If a Buyer is not granted access to a property, on their time schedule, they will eliminate that home from their list of choices and simply move on to other homes for sale that they can get into right away.

The truth is that when Seller limits the Realtor's ability to show the property, the Listing Agent advertises the home as: Shown By Appointment Only, Must give 24 Hours Notice, Listing Agent Must Be Present, or Must Speak with Owner Prior To Showing, and thus the Seller and Listing Agent have practically doomed the potential of sale a quick sale of their home.  If the showing instructions are restrictive, many Realtors, won't bother to even call to set up the showing or let their Buyer know it is a possability to begin with.

    So how can the Seller keep their daily Routine while their home is listed for sale?  As a Full Time Listing Agent, I tell my Sellers to think of it this way: the faster the buyer can get in the house and realize it is the right home for them, the faster the home will be taken off the market, and the shorter the time the Seller was required to keep the home in "Showing Condition."

OK, a great thought, right? But what if you have children in the house or some other circumstance and there is just no way you can keep the home in Showing Condition all the time without going crazy? I have a solution for my Sellers that is typically a good compromise. I advertise the home to other Realtors as "Lockbox Call" which means the Buyer's Agent calls first before coming, and then, instead of affixing the lockbox to the front door, I place it in the Seller's hands.

My experience tells me this helps the Seller to relax and feel more in control of the showing situation.  This also changes the situation so that I do no have to advertise it as being difficult home to show.  I have found that most Sellers add restrictions to showings most often because they want to be in control and not surprised at the last minute. 

When thelockbox is given to my Sellers they are also given specific instructions. Lockboxes in Bryan, College Station automatically turn themselves on to allow Realtor access at 8am and off at 9pm.  The Seller is instructed to remember that if a Buyer's Agent calls, and the Seller does not answer the phone, that Realtor is headed to the house. The Seller also needs to remember that if they leave their house, for any reason, they need to have their home ready for a showing and have the lockbox outside.  

Buyer's Agents will do what they can to provide as much notice to Sellers as possible.  If the Seller needs a little extra time, they can always request the Agent to be the last home on the list and most.  Realtors are reasonable professionals and most will try to be as accommodating as possible.  Another example of the Seller wanting to restrict the showing times is due to a house-hold pet that is used to roaming free. 

I suggest that a good compromise to restricting showing times is simply to place the pet in the utility room with a baby gate so that the potential Buyer has access to the house on their time table and can view the room, without the pet being tightly confined in a crate all day.  A good Listing Agent will come up with creative solutions to problems that would be solved by restricting showing times. The right Listing Realtor will work with the Seller to allow the home to be viewed normally by Buyers and still accommodate the Seller's needs.

For More Articles that Every Seller Should Know Click Here. Thanks and Happy Selling! Feel free to call me if you have any questions at 979-218-2235.

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