Kirk Holton Team Blog

Making your home easy to show

By:Katie Kirk-The Kirk Holton Team

Your home is on the market and your motivated to get it sold. You are getting some appointments but no contracts yet. These showings are becoming stressful and difficult to work around. Sound familiar? There are a few things you can do to stay showing ready and reduce the stress. It is vital to be able to get any potential buyer into your home at a moments notice. After all, no contracts will magically appear…the first step is to get the buyer in the door. In my experience not every buyer and agent is organized. It is often at a moments notice that a buyer stumbles upon a property and calls his/her agent and requests that an appointment be made in an hour. There are also the “drive by” buyers who see the sign and want to get in. Again, the more your home gets shown the more likely you will get a contract.

Here are a few things to keep in mind. It is best to have the mind set each morning that someone is coming in the house, even if there is not  one scheduled.  So setting aside 10-15 minutes each evening or morning to make sure everything is clean and neat for a showing is recommended. Is this difficult for some families to do with work, and kid schedules? You bet, but it is that important. You do not want to have to tell your agent the house can’t be shown today because it is too messy. Just be in ready mode to the best of your ability at all times. Secondly if you have pets DO NOT let them rule the roost to the extent that you miss showings because they are not put somewhere. You should not have your dog(s) roaming the house during a showing regardless of how friendly they are. There needs to be a plan for this for showings prior to putting the home on the market. If they are in a space in the house and there is any chance they could get out, be sure to leave a note to buyers/agents explaining the situation.  Again, you should not have to decline a showing due to pets.
The last tip has to do with those last minute appointment requests. You are in the middle of dinner and someone wants to come in 30 minutes. No way, you think to yourself. Here is what you can do…ask for a few extra minutes and clean up. You do not have to physically leave your property/neighborhood for the entire time frame of the requested appointment. When you see the buyers pull up, sneak out the back door and go for a walk or make some calls in your car in the driveway. Again, these last minute things will come up and they will be a challenge but do not miss a showing because you think you have to be gone/out of the house for an entire hour, it is ideal but really not the case in these circumstances.
Go over in your mind all the possible scenarios that may happen when a request for an appointment is made. What are the common obstacles? Make sure you overcome these obstacles so you are always ready for a showing. Obviously emergencies, illness, take the exception but these are the only reasons you
should tell your agent it is a “no show” today. Otherwise, get those buyers in! Good luck!