It’s always exciting to get the notification that there are some buyers who would like to see your home.  I always look at every showing as a potential offer.  Buyers have seen your home online (where almost everyone begins their home search), and they like it enough to take the time to see it in person.  As a first time seller, you may be wondering what exactly you need to do while your home in Locust Grove is being toured.  Here are some things to know about showings that will help ease your mind.

Keep Your Home Ready

Having a home on the market requires a consistent effort to keep your home clean and organized.  You never know when a showing request might come in and you don’t want to turn down a request just because your home isn’t ready for a showing.

Creating a daily morning and evening routine for tidying up the spaces can help everyone in your home contribute to keeping it in showing ready shape.

Here are some ways to get your home ready for a showing when you are short on time. 

Leave the property

During a showing of your home in Locust Grove, you want the buyers to feel comfortable walking around the rooms and peeking into a closet to check out the storage space.   When the sellers are at the home doing these things can make buyers feel a little uneasy.  Plan to leave your home ten minutes before the showing and head back after the appointment has ended.

You don’t always have to drive away.  If it’s a nice day, then you can take a walk around the neighborhood and ask your REALTOR® to notify you when the buyers have left.

No shows

Sometimes buyers might schedule a showing, but don’t actually go into your home.  On the drive, they may realize that the home is further away than anticipated or that the location does not work for them.  In these cases, buyers may not want to view your home because the location would prevent them from putting in an offer.

Your REALTOR® will relay this info to you.

You Can Block Out Times

It’s okay to ask your real estate agent to block out a day or certain times for showings.  If you’ve got little ones than a showing at eight o’clock probably isn’t going to be ideal.  Likewise, if you want to host a graduation party, have family in town, or are sick, then you may need to keep your home unavailable for a day or weekend.  

Tell your REALTOR® about these times you need to have blocked out as soon as possible.  If another agent calls about seeing the home, your REALTOR® can explain why it isn’t available and help to schedule a time that is.

Keep in mind that if you are blocking out times consistently on week nights or weekends, you will need to have some more flexibility in letting buyers into your home in Locust Grove at other times.

Feedback isn’t personal

We all feel an attachment to our homes; chances are you’ve made some changes to your home to make it your own, so it can be hard to hear feedback.  Keep in mind that buyers don’t know you personally and are only judging the home based on their own preferences.

Feedback doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with your home.

Only when I see a consistent comment in the feedback, do I talk with sellers about making a potential change or improvement while the home is on the market.  For example, all the buyers love the layout of the home, but are concerned with the condition of the carpet in the living room.  This might warrant offering a buyer credit to replace the carpet or even replacing it while it is still on the market. 

An offer isn’t an offer until it is in writing

There have been many times I’ve been told that the buyers want to put an offer in on the home and then nothing materializes.   While buyers may be eager to write an offer for a home, sometimes after taking some time to think about everything, they decide to go in another direction.  So while you may hear that a buyer loves your home and wants to write an offer, try not to get too excited until your REALTOR® has an offer for your home in Locust Grove in writing.