How to request showings of Chicago homes for sale

You’ve been looking online at homes for sale in Chicago. You’ve identified a few that you’re financially qualified to purchase and you’d like to see them. Here’s how to request showings.

WHEN TO REQUEST SHOWINGS

How far ahead of time you need to request showings depends on where in Chicago the homes are located.

If the homes are located in the city closer to the suburbs than downtown, you might be able to see them with less than 24 hours notice. However, showings typically must be confirmed by the sellers, so don’t expect to be able to see homes for sale in less than a couple of hours. If there’s a tenant living in the home, they typically must be given at least 24 hours notice of showings.

If the homes for sale are downtown or near downtown you’ll need to request the showings at least 24 hours in advance. The listing agents also need to be present for the showings most of the time, so the showing times need to fit into the listing agents’ schedules as well as the tenants’ and sellers’ schedules.

If you want to see more than 2 homes downtown or near downtown, you need to request the showings at least a few days in advance. It sometimes takes a day or more to get a showing confirmation from a listing agent, so scheduling consecutive showings can take a few days.

WHO TO CONTACT

There are 2 ways to request showings of homes for sale in Chicago, through the listing agents for each home or through a buyer agent.

I don’t recommend scheduling showings through listing agents. First, listing agents represent the sellers. The second reason not to schedule showings through listing agents is that you’ll need to take the time to contact multiple agents, if you want to see multiple homes for sale.

By scheduling showings through a buyer agent you’ll be fully represented by an agent who works for you, not the sellers. The buyer agent will also handle contacting all of the listing agents and coordinating schedules for multiple showings. Even though a buyer agent is compensated by the listing broker, his or her fiduciary responsibility is to you.