Previews, Showings, Feedback, Contract, Oh My!

Once a seller’s home has been listed in the MLS, showings to clients or previews by agents will begin. Agents will visit the home during the realtor open house or agents will set an appointment to preview the home. A “preview” is a quick look without clients where an agent runs in and out quickly. All the lights in the house do not need to be turned on as you do for a buyer showing.  Don’t think the agent rude if they are super quick as they know exactly what they need to see.  Sometimes the agent is previewing for a specific client or they are just being diligent to see all inventory. They may be working with another owner who is planning on listing their home or currently has their home on the market and you have just become their competition. All previews are good. They need to see it to talk about it to sell it.  You want everyone to see and talk about your house! 

After the house is shown to a buyer the seller is looking for “feedback." Every seller wants to know if the buyer liked their house, is the buyer ready to buy now, do they have to sell their home first, are they renting, do they have children, when are they deciding? Sellers want to know anything and everything. What the seller is really asking is, “Why are they NOT buying my house NOW?”

When the seller’s agent calls the buyer’s agent immediately to get feedback they many times are getting the opinion of the agent not the client. Some clients need time to evaluate their likes and dislikes after seeing your home plus the other homes they viewed that day. If you request feedback before they have had time to think you will not get viable information. If the buyer loves your house and they are ready to write a contract, then their agent is calling the listing agent to confirm its availability or if there is interest from other buyers. Basically, the buyers want to know how long they have to think?

When a buyer is not ready to write a contract or your home just does not work for them, the feedback is usually very vague. Their comments may be: Rooms to small, kitchen too old, street too busy, style not to their liking. These are usually all things that a seller cannot change. Feedback helps with the seller’s anxiety, but it does not sell the house. Most sellers already know their home’s drawbacks.  These points would have been taken into consideration when pricing the house.  Remember that everything sells it just needs to be priced correctly.  Let the buyers feedback come after waiting a bit.

True representation of your home is also key to selling.  As an example, think twice about counting a bedroom if it is not a true bedroom.  A four bed home should have four bedrooms where you would want your own children to sleep.  If the count is exaggerated, the feedback will most likely be that the house is too small.  In the property description you can point out an extra den/bedroom.  It then becomes a bonus instead of a shortcoming.

The only feedback that a seller is looking for is: The buyers are writing a contract on your home!  Short of that, the buyer’s feedback is disappointing.  Simply put–price correctly, have the house show its best, make it easy to see and be patient!