Checklist to maximize your showings
Maximizing your showings is about capturing the attention of buyers and removing all the possible obstacles that can interfere with buyers coming to see the house.
Price your property right. Over-priced properties don't get many showings. For information about setting the right asking price for your home, see Pricing Your Home We can also do a CMA for you.
Fill out your listing paperwork completely, including all dimensions asked for. Buyers and agents may run searches based on items you enter.
Read the Photo Guide and provide us with the best photos you can for MLS and a Showcase Listing on Realtor.com. Buyers want to see photos.
Know where your buyers are coming from so you can prioritize your marketing efforts. See Marketing your home – What works best
If your home is over 4000 square feet, or if you have a large property with many interesting features, you may consider a Virtual Tour, which are available at a slight additional charge.
Use a keybox. Also use a showing service if available in your area. If you don't think it's important, please read Keyboxes & Showing Advice
We do everything we can to set up your listing so it doesn't appear to be a "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO). Some buyers and some agents will avoid FSBO listings. The 2 things that give away that you are a FSBO are:
- "For Sale By Owner" sign (obviously). Instead, use one of our signs or get a professional sign made that doesn't look like a FSBO sign. (See Sign Advice)
- Showing instruction of "Call owner for appointment". Just about every listing by a 6% agent has a keybox.
(NOTE: Some people make various mistakes, including looking like a FSBO. After they fail, they decide the FSBO way didn't work, so they list with a 6% Realtor. The whole point of using us is to have all the benefits of using a 6% Realtor, but without paying 6%.)
Try to have your home to be in the best possible showing condition at all times. For a good checklist, see Getting your home ready to show. But never decline a showing because the house isn't perfect; it's better to show a messy house than not show it at all.
Bad odors from pets, cigarettes, cigars, certain foods, dirty carpet, etc can cut your home value by 5%. Perfume type air fresheners make it worse by making the house smell like a cheap motel. Get rid of the source of the odor and air out the house.
Good showing etiquette calls for not being home when an agent brings a buyer to see the house. Statistics prove that buyers will cut the time that they spend on a showing in half when a seller is present. And buyers remember the homes the most that they spent the most time in. If at all possible, leave before they arrive so the buyers don't feel like they are "kicking you out".
One way to make sure the agent NEVER brings another buyer is to interfere or try to conduct the showing tour yourself!
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