Guide to Showings, Keyboxes, and Showing Service
An efficient property access system is one of the most valuable services a Realtor can provide for a seller, because the easier it is for agents to access your home, the more showings you will get and the faster it will sell.
How to handle showings is one of the most misunderstood issues by sellers, often due to inexperience, or a bad experience with a past agent who didn't set up showing instructions properly with MLS or a showing service.
Keyboxes
A Keybox is a device that looks like a giant lock, and attaches to something like a door handle or doorknob. It has a compartment that contains a key to gain access to the house. There are 2 kinds of keyboxes: Electronic Memory Keyboxes (also referred to as "Supra Keyboxes"), and Combination keyboxes. 
Electronic Memory Keyboxes are more secure, and can only be opened by a Realtor with an electronic key. Every keybox has a unique number, and every Realtor has their own electronic key with a unique number. Both the keybox and the key record access information, so if there were ever a problem, your listing agent can find out exactly who entered the home and at what time. Another desirable feature is that Electronic Memory Keyboxes can't be opened by anyone after 9pm or before 9am.
The Old Style Electronic Memory Keyboxes (gray) have electrodes that connect to the Realtor's electronic key. The new "I-Box" Electronic Memory keyboxes (blue) use infrared technology (like your TV Remote) and are much easier to use. Most MLSs use the new I-Boxes. DFW & San Antonio use both, and are gradually phasing out the Old Style keyboxes (El Paso uses a different style keybox not pictured here).
Electronic Memory Keyboxes are available in DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Central Texas, Tyler, Corpus Christi, College Station, Highland Lakes & El Paso.
Combination keyboxes are opened by entering a combination, which can be by push-button, rotary dial, or a row of numbers, like a common briefcase lock. Anyone who is given the combination can gain entry. We provide the Master Combo keyboxes. We have found them to be the easiest to use and the most reliable.
We normally ship keyboxes to our clients by UPS. If we send you a combination keybox, it is yours to keep. Memory keyboxes need to be returned to us. For the return, you put the keybox back in the box we sent it in, and we call UPS to pick it up. UPS brings the return shipping label, and we pay the shipping charges.
CBS Codes
Agents can access memory keyboxes without a CBS code, but most appraisers and building inspectors cannot. CBS codes add an extra level of security that requires the user to enter an additional code to open the keybox. If you are ever asked for a CBS code so an inspector or appraiser can gain access, ask them to call us and we will give it to them.
Showing Service
A showing service is similar to an answering service, and is available in DFW, Houston, McAllen, San Antonio, and Central Texas MLS areas. The showing service company is called CSS, (Centralized Showing Service), and 99% of all homes for sale in these markets are set up with CSS. If your home is in any of these MLS areas, you definitely want to be set up on CSS.
Agents love CSS because they can call one phone number and set up all their showings in a matter of minutes, and get any information they need such as keybox combinations, alarm codes, gate codes, pet information and other showing instructions. The showing service then calls and emails the client to alert them of the showing.
It's a secure system, because agents need to register with CSS and obtain a "showing code" before they can call in and get any information. Any new agent who plans to show homes will get registered at the same time they join MLS.
When a home is not set up on CSS, the agent needs to contact the seller and make special arrangements. This often leads to "phone-tag", frustration, and missed showings. If they are very busy or just lazy, some agents may simply skip showing houses that aren't on CSS. Often buyers browse and select listings online, and give their agent a long list of homes they want to see, fully expecting that not all will be available. Some agents will simply avoid any listing with the instructions to call the owner for appointment. This can be the result of bad past experiences, such as frustrations in reaching sellers or setting up mutually convenient showing times, or having encountered sellers who insist on being the tour guide.
Other benefits of CSS are that in addition to the telephone notification, you as the seller also get an email with the agent information for your records. In addition, once a week you get a showings report with any agent comments and feedback. This is a way for agents to be uninhibited about letting you know what they or the buyers are really thinking, so don't be upset when it's not all complimentary!
CSS is not available in Austin and the other MLS areas not mentioned above. In Austin, the typical routine is for agents to call sellers and leave a message stating when they plan to show the house, and gain access by way of an Electronic Memory Keybox. We recommend against combination keyboxes in Austin because there is no security of knowing who you are really giving a combination to, and setting up showings is too hit-or-miss because the agent must reach you to get the combination.
The showing service is only for agents to set up showings through MLS, and not for use by the general public, so the showing service telephone number should NOT be put on flyers, yard signs, or any other advertising materials intended for buyers.
Showing Instructions
Some sellers will have some specific showing instructions, such as "don't let cat out" or "dog in back yard may bite". The problem with showing instructions written in the MLS listing or left with CSS is that the agents forget them, lose them, or don't read them in the first place. It's best to put large notes (large because some agents need reading glasses) in the place where the information is needed. A note like "Don't let cat out" should be on the front door so the agent will see it before entering the house. A note "dog in back yard may bite" should be on the back door leading out to the back yard. The only showing instruction that makes sense to put in a listing is if the seller requires a minimum amount of notice, such as "One hour notice required".
Pets
Some sellers don't want to use keyboxes due to a pet, and plan to come home and deal with the pet every time there is a showing. Unless the house is priced for a quick sale, this can be a major obstacle. Dogs can often be handled by leaving them outside, confining them to a room such as a utility room, or putting them in a travel crate (depending on the dog, the weather, and other factors). Many dog owners perceive these measures as some form of torture, and dogs are experts at making sad faces to instill guilt in their owners! Another alternative is leaving the dog with a family member, friend, or dog boarding facility until the house sells.
Summary of the benefits of using a keybox & showing service:
- More showings because it's easier for agents.
- Fewer missed showings.
- No phone-tag between the seller & the agent.
- Seller gets an email from the showing service for every showing to keep track of who showed the house and when.
- The showing service emails an automated feedback request to the agent for every showing, and the seller gets a report with the responses once a week.
- If the seller uses a combination keybox, the showing service will give the combination to the agent. The agent must give a "showing code" to the showing service before getting any information, which is an extra layer of security. If the seller gives out the combination, he has no way of knowing he's actually giving it to an agent.
- Agents are often unreliable, frazzled, or just have too many homes to show. Agents regularly skip or cancel showings and don't bother to call and let anybody know. Many agents assume it's no big deal, while sellers who make a special trip to open up find it very frustrating.
- Showing Etiquette - It's considered bad etiquette for a seller to be present when an agent shows their house. In fact, it's to the seller's benefit to avoid being home. Studies have proven that a buyer will spend about half the time in a house when the seller is present, and buyers will remember the features of a house better the more time they spend on the showing.
Why WE like sellers to use keyboxes & CSS (or Memory Keyboxes set up as "call & go" in Austin, Tyler, Corpus Christi, College Station, and El Paso):
- We won't have to deal with the extra phone calls from agents who can't reach sellers for showings.
- 9 out of 10 times (no joke) when a seller claims they always have their phone with them and answer it 24/7, we get phone calls from agents who can't reach the seller.
- Houses will sell faster with a keybox because they get more showings. Almost all our listings are paid on a flat fee basis, so if it takes longer for a house to sell, it costs us more time and money!
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Buyers
