Over the years of consulting and training real estate agents, I find that many still confuse an Open House with a showing. Many properties are not at their best on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon between 1:00 and 4:00, especially when homes down the street offer the same thing. In similar fashion, many visitors to multiple neighboring open houses get confused about which house has the features they liked the best.
One method we help our valued clients and students with is scheduling showings instead of, or in addition to, traditional open houses. It is especially the case for furnished, rentals, and move-in ready homes. Scheduling showings offers several key advantages for real estate agents (and leasing agents), starting with knowing that people are specifically coming to view your listing. There are advantages such as being able to schedule at the best times of the day or week to view the property. A family might feel very comfortable viewing a property at a time of day when children are safely walking home from the nearby school. A commuter is more likely to remember being able to get to the showing before or after work by train or bus.
There is also the ability to schedule showings for potential buyers or tenants within a time frame that works for you. Doing so also makes having multiple properties to show manageable. If more than one is in close proximity, you may be able to offer both and be at whichever location is scheduled. If not close, you could be available for each on separate days and times.
Another advantage of offering showings is the ability to create urgency. One investor I know routinely schedules rental showings at 7:00 AM on Saturdays. His reasoning is that most people do not have other obligations at that time, meaning if they show up they are truly interested and committed. (If no one shows, it is the time he goes to inspect his property each week regardless.) Ideally, he schedules another showing for 7:15 AM. Imagine the urgency created when a potential tenant shows up at 7:15 AM and finds someone else there looking around!
How, why, and when you schedule property showings should be a part of the strategy for each listing instead of merely being a part of your marketing methodology. Having an effective operational method is what makes the savvy agent “first in” on getting a buyer or tenant as quickly as possible!
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