I’m a big believer in lockboxes. I know there are exceptions, but I think most of the time that having a listing agent show a home for sale isn’t in anyone’s best interests, especially the seller’s. My showings in Andersonville and Rogers Park yesterday support my point.
My first showing was scheduled at 10:20 an in Andersonville. At 10:30 the listing agent still hadn’t arrived so I called her and found that she thought the showing was at 11:20. We were booked into the afternoon. She had an open house from 1 to 4. Having stood in front of the condo on Foster for 10 mins., my buyers had plenty of time to notice how much traffic Foster has. The condo didn’t get shown.
Back on Wednesday I called an agent who’s listing we wanted to see the previous weekend, but couldn’t since she was out of town. On Friday I still hadn’t heard back from her so I left another message. Finally, late Friday I heard from her that she hadn’t returned my phone call sooner since she had been out golfing that day! Normally, I would have scheduled something else by then, but I knew my buyers really wanted to see it, so I didn’t. The agent again couldn’t show us the condo on Sunday, so the seller’s sister had to let us in.
Then there was the listing agent who saved my buyers and I some time by making scheduling a showing too difficult. I called her on Tuesday. She said she had made tentative plans for Sunday and wasn’t sure if she would show the condo or leave keys for us. When I found that I would have to drive down to Lincoln Park to pick up the keys and return them, I looked at my route that was already scheduled and discovered that the condo was next to an ‘L’ line – not a location where my clients would want to buy! I didn’t waste my clients’ time showing the condo.
If the sellers of these 3 condos knew how their showings were handled, I can’t image that they would want them handled the same way in the future!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree! Similar things happened to me as a buyer when I was purchasing my home. I bet this happens a lot. I have bought homes in four states and have never heard of the practice of the the listing agents being present at showings. I bet there are a lot of sellers out there that wished you would have posted names!!
I am an agent in the West suburbs and I really don’t know how Chicago area agents manage to schedule showings around 4 different schedules (buyer, buyer agent, seller, seller’s agent). I have all the respect for you! We use secure key boxes out here. Call the agent or owner, schedule the showing and let ourselves in and out. Sometimes it is hard enough to get 3 schedules to work. Any reason why supra key boxes aren’t used in the big city?
It’s a different mentality in the city. Most city agents I know push the fact that they will show a home when they are trying for the listing. Most sellers think the more an agent does, the better. In my opinion, sellers need to focus on results, not on effort expended.