Substituting One Mystery for Another
Sometimes it’s a mystery why a “For Sale” home on MLS is sitting, unsold, after months (and months) on the market.
Sometimes, it’s not.
My clients wanted to see a certain Linden Hills home on Sunday, so I requested a showing on Friday.
When I didn’t get a confirmation or even an acknowledgement, I made another showing request Saturday.
When that produced the same (non)response, I called the Broker’s office Sunday (closed), then left a voicemail for the agent.
Surprise, surprise . . . no response.
(Note to prospective home sellers: if the broker listing your home isn’t open on Sundays . . . you may want to pick another broker.)
All of which solves one mystery, but raises another: why bother to have your home listed on MLS, accumulating harmful market time, if no one can see it??
Declining Showing Requests
Of course, there are plenty of situations where a prospective home seller (legitimately) may not want to accommodate showing requests.
Perhaps the most common is what I call the “serendipitous” showing request — typically, an agent with their client who is showing another house down the street, and is “just curious” about the neighbor’s.
Such requests are invariably made at dinner time, with a lead time (maximum) of 10 minutes.
See, “Dealing With Emergency Showings“; and “Just Say ‘No’ — Home Seller Version.”
Switching to “TNAS”
Even if a Buyer’s agent requests a showing well in advance, there are still situations where it may be inconvenient or unwise for the Seller to say “yes.”
Possibilities include: a family member is home sick; the owner is hosting out-of-town company; something in the home broke/flooded/shorted and is awaiting repair, etc.
In such cases, though, the appropriate response is to switch the home’s MLS status to “TNAS,” for “Temporarily Not Available for Showing.”
See also, “Does ‘TNAS’ Tweak Buyers’ Interest?”; “TNAS” or “PNAS?“; “Attentive — and Not So Attentive — Agents“; and “TNAS Over the Holidays: How Prevalent?“
