Should the sellers and the listing agent stay in the
home during showings?
By Larry Stoller
The answers to the above
question are NO, YES and MAYBE.
NO! Most of the showings will be by Buyer Agents.
That’s because with 2,200+ agents out there, there’s a good chance that some of them will bring their buyers to
see your home and that one or two will bring in the offer.
When buyer agents and
prospective buyer clients are looking at homes, they almost never want the
Seller(s) or the Listing Agent around. That’s because the buyers want the privacy to say what they like, love,
dislike or hate about the home to each other. They want to express their inner-most
feelings with each other as they go through the home, which is hard to do with
the seller(s) there.
In fact, the seller’s
presence may make a buyer feel uncomfortable and in a hurry to leave., which is
exactly what the seller does not want to happen. The longer the buyer(s) stays
in the home the better!
Buyers also want to share their thoughts with their
real estate agent and get their agent’s perspective. Maybe they even want to
talk about making an offer while they are under the spell of this very special
home. That won’t happen if the sellers or the listing agent is in the home!
YES! If the listing agent is
bringing in the buyer clients, the agent
will be with those clients during the entire showing (but the sellers will be
out of the house for the same reasons as stated above).
If the listing agent is
holding an Open House for Realtors or for the public (or both) that agent will
be present for the entire time as well. Sometimes two agents will hold one open
house to be better able to greet, meet and answer all the questions from the
many visitors.
If it's a hardship for the Seller to leave the home every time there's a showing, he or she can stay. The listing agent will let the Buyer's agent know that the Seller is in the Sun Room, or Den, etc, in case they have any questions. The listing agent will also suggest that the Seller stay put but that he or she may be asked questions from the visitors.
MAYBE! Now and then a buyer’s
agent may ask the listing agent or sellers to hang around, just in case their
buyers have any questions. But usually the buyer’s agent does his or her
homework and is able to answer most questions.
On the other hand, if the house
is one-of-a-kind or really unique, it might not be a bad idea to have the
sellers and/or the listing agent present (maybe at the second showing).
Larry Stoller is a local Broker and Realtor with Real Estate FIVE
of the Low Country. Larry@RealEstateFive.com, www.RealEstateFive.com