Sellers: Vacate Your Home for Showings or Your Home Will NOT Sell!
You’re not alone if you’re a seller and you feel strongly that your home has ‘more-than-meets-the-eye.’ Some sellers feel so strongly about the hidden benefits of their home that they simply must stay in their home for showings.
Trust me when I say, this is NOT a good idea!
If you have an agent worth their ‘salt,’ so to speak, your agent has done his/her job to market those hidden items to the world. If your agent provided you brochures for your home, those items should be included in that information, readily available to all of your prospective buyers.
99% of the time, if you remain in your home for showings buyers will rush through your home and won’t take the time necessary to adequately view the property. You WANT to give your buyers the freedom to go from room to room and layout their furniture as they would place it in your home should they buy it. If you’re there, this entire step will be missed. Therefore, the mental image of living in YOUR home, will not ever be present for ANY of your buyers.
Think about times that you go to someone’s home to visit after they’ve been in the hospital–you want to go in, give your well wishes and leave them alone. You don’t want to wear out your welcome as they say. This is a courtesy that we were raised to understand and yes, buyers don’t want to imposition you and they literally rush to get out of your home.
As well, when a buyer is touring a home, they express objections to their agent. This gives us the opportunities to offer our expertise in overcoming those objections. When a seller is present, buyers clam-up; they refuse to discuss anything with their agent for fear of hurting your feelings or taking additional time in the home. That is also an imperative part of the buying process, once again, completely omitted because you were present. My advice – Don’t be the elephant in the room!
If you don’t want to sell your home, stay put for showings! This will guarantee that your home won’t sell! My advice if you do want to sell is to vacate the premises during any and all showings. Give your buyers the opportunity to ‘explore’ your home. Give your buyers time to visualize their furniture in your home. Give your buyers the time they need to discuss your home with their agent. This is a far more effective means of selling your home!