“Dear Seller: About That Restrictive Showing Time Window . . “ Sellers won’t like to hear this, but there’s a double standard when it comes to accommodating showing requests. Namely, if a legitimate Buyer can only see your home after 7 p.m. in the evening — you try to accommodate them. However, as a Seller,...Read More
“Wait Till Next Year?” (10 Days From Now) Tic tac toe? Try, my success rate getting confirmed showings in Minnetonka so far this week. Normally, two hours advance notice — at least for properties that don’t have renters — is enough. This time of year, though, you never know. So, on Monday, only 3 out of...Read More
Spying on the Buyer, or “Electronic Chaperones?” Every breath you take Every move you make Every vase you break* Every step you take I’ll be watching you –Sting; lyrics, “Every Breath You Take” Frankly, I’m surprised that it took until late 2011 to hear about it: a (creeped-out) colleague reporting that the home she just showed...Read More
The Many Forms of Showing Feedback How interested is a prospective Buyer in a given home? It’s not exactly high tech, but the best measurement tool I’ve come up with in almost a decade selling real estate is . . . a stopwatch. So, the longer a prospective Buyer lingers in a particular home, the...Read More
Dumping on Sellers Unbeknownst to many Buyers, their Realtor receives a feedback form after each showing (and sometimes, before!). Equally unbeknownst to Buyers, their agents will occasionally use said form to . . . . rather tactlessly dump all over the Seller’s home. So, the curb appeal is ” dreadful,” the condition is “atrocious,” the...Read More
Hearing Footsteps I certainly didn’t intend to do my preview at the same time that the prospective Buyer and their inspector were in the home. But that’s how it worked out. Judging by the Buyers’ nervous reaction to my (brief) presence, their inclination to aggressively negotiate any inspection issues is now lessened, if only a little...Read More
