Real Estate Agent's Tool Kit. Part 2.
How to Show the Houses To Home Buyers Circa 2010.
Showing the houses to home buyers is one of the most visible activities performed by Real Estate agents. Many people still perceive the Real Estate agent as the "Door Openers":). Even for simply opening the door for our buying clients we, the Real Estate agents do a lot of things behind the scene to make it happen.
Simple list of activities we do prior to showing appointment includes, but is not limited to:
- Buyer's initial consultation, qualification in order to understand buyer's motives, needs , desires and ability to meet these needs
- MLS data base search in order to find the best matches for our home buyers
- Coordination of appointment time with the buyer
- Creating a preliminary route for a showing tour
- Scheduling the appointments with the listing agents and getting the showing instructions
- Compiling the final route, printing out or e-mailing the map and driving direction to the buyer
- Printing out the flyers for each home
- Investigating the property history, checking out the current neighborhood marketing condition for each property
Times changed, and the way we handle all these activities change, too. Not for everyone though. Thus, we are still in the transition between the 20th century way of doing business routine and the 21st century one.
Scheduling the showings and getting showing instructions is all about communication between Real Estate agents. Sometimes it's real time consuming, and even frustrating and exhausting. Listing agents can make the showings much easier for cooperating agents and buying clients.
I personally love one tool, which makes the whole process easier and a way more professional: Centralized Showing System. Our company Local-n-Global Realty uses this system for more than two years. Among the advantages the most important for me is a time savings. Besides saving a time, there are few more important benefits of using this or similar system vs. calling the listing office or listing agent:
- Accessibility to the services. It's available by phone from 8 am to 8 pm every day. Sunday hours are 8 am to 6 pm. Listing offices may be closed, agents may not answer the phones nor return the calls timely.
- Internet access 24/7. We can manage our appointments at any time per our convenience. We do not have this privilege while using traditional approach to scheduling the showings.
- One easy phone number to remember and dial for multiple houses vs. many different phone numbers to dial if listings to show belong to different brokerages.
- Easy to identify yourself. If you call the office or agent who do not use this system, it's always a burden spelling first and last name, buyer's name, phone numbers, etc. Having 18 letters in my not-that-common first and last names, it's not fun to spell them at each attempt to set up an appointment for my clients.
- E-mail notification and e-mail instructions We do not have this privilege while using traditional approach to scheduling the showings.
- Easy to follow-up after showing. We can easily e-mail showing report to our buyers. System automatically generates a courtesy feedback request .We do not have this privilege while using traditional approach to scheduling the showings.
The other tool which listing agent can use is an electronic lock box - Supra box, IBox, whatever other names can be.
I personally feel that
it's much more safe for the sellers if their agents use electronic entry system for showing of the properties for sale.
Interesting, but here in Cleveland you can find the whole variety of different entry systems. If you show the houses in Solon, Pepper Pike, Twinsburg there is a very high probability that the listing agents use electronic IBoxes. Listing agents on West side of Greater Cleveland traditionally use electronic systems very rarely. You have a chance though to find numeric lock boxes, combination lock boxes with letter combo, even ancient camel key lock boxes!
I understand that purchasing and maintaining electronic entry system may be pretty costly for the agents but it's much more convenient and safe for our clients and for our fellow agents! Electronic entry systems provide a perfect tracking for each of our listings. Sophisticated system of registration, tracking , and notification does not leave any chance for unattended showings or for letting unauthorized showings be unnoticed.
Read our first post about Real Estate Agent's Tool Kit:
Real Estate Agent's Tool Kit: How Not To Miss Important Call
And if time permits preview, preview, preview.
Yes very good. Too bad that company is not doing business in California. :-(
Lenn - agree. And previewing the properties means the same routine in order to set up the tour, unless you visit the Broker's Open Houses.
Wendy - That's real sad. We are kind of spoiled already with the convenience of this service. More and more companies and agents chose to use it. Maybe, there is another provider in California? I know that there are few different companies offering these services.
In a perfect world, we could have all the agents using all the latest tools to make everyone's job so much easier!!! The reality is far from that...
In our area (Oahu, HI) we still see the whole range: some brokerages are starting to use an automated service, very few use the electronic lock boxes (we use Sentrilock), many use the old dial-type locks & once in a while, I get the instruction to retrieve the key from "under the flower pot " in the back yard...
more and more agents are utilizing the services of showing systems that can accomodate both accompanied and non-accompanied listings. But we also have the technology available in the office where anyone calling in can get an appointment, we'll send out an appointment sheet and the system will prompt for feedback and confirm that the showing was performed. We then match that information up with our Supra records to ensure that only authorized agents are showing the property (since Supra gives you the ability to enter a home even if you don't have an appointment).
I agree with you about the electronic entry...nice post, with lots of good ideas.
It is hard when each state, and each county has different rules, regulations and systems. But, it is vital for the agent to do his or hear research and preview the properties as well.
That sounds like an awesome system! We have something similar here in Jacksonville FL but it is not quite that sophisticated.
I agree wilt Lynn, Preview what you are going to show
Thank you colleagues, for your great comments!
Monique - We all want to work in a perfect world. It's o.k. to be different if we are all professional. Technology is for people's convenience and it's so tempting to do business in a pleasant, convenient and fun way!
Gary - You are right, and it's so good that we can use GPS (sometimes we know our neighborhoods much better than any GPS systems LOL)! That's an example of one more nice technology to help Real Estate agents and their clients. I remember how we copied the maps in our office back in 1999 (just 10 years ago!). We are blessed with sophisticated MLS system, which gives us an instant access to any property history. So many tools - some of them just underutilized.
Martin WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Synergy - I'm very glad to learn that you use such a great system in your office. I am sure, your clients are happy with this. Other agents in your area should love selling your listings!
Li, Sea to Sky Premier Properties- electronic entry helps us to be more confident in safety of our clients' properties. I also think about possible liability issues if listing agents do not really track their showings. By the way, I've never heard about the key missing from the electronic lock box as it happens very often with combo lock boxes, especially at bank owned homes.
If I have time I try to preview houses. It can save countless hours in the process.
Melissa - You are so right - there is no technology which could've substituted research and preview. Thanks for your comment!
Kim - That's my deep believe that good Rea Estate agents make any system sophisticated.
Andrew - When it's possible, preview is a great tool. Thanks for commenting!
I have been really pleased with Centralized showing. I especially like being able to schedule after hours and know they start working on it first thing in the morning.
Yes all good ideas in this today. Previewing is great and I do try to when I can.
Thanks for the nice post today.
Patricia/Seacoast NH/ME
I am a big fan of the showing service myself. It saves so much time in scheduling appointments whether for previewing or showings. I use accushow. They are very similar to CSS but a little cheaper. Thanks for the great info.
It helps to narrow the list to look at an aerial map too, especially if the buyer wants to avoid certain things such as a house behind.
I love CSS!! It's quick, the agents always pick up the phone quickly and they're always pleasant (sometimes I can even get them to kid around with me). Super efficient - and I love the new email feature to keep the instructions handy!
We use that service here. I can't believe it is not offered in other areas, especially California.
CSS is the bomb. I just wish everyone used it. If all of your showings are listed with CSS, it will even plan a route for you.
Hi Svetlana -- Congrats on the featured post! CSS makes showings very easy and rapid. The only downside is sometimes there is good information to be had from the listing agent so I end up getting phone calls from the agent on top of this, so in those cases, it's not efficient. When I show homes on the eastside, many have the eboxes which is nice, but it's rare to find them in use on the south and west side of Cleveland, so it's always a mixed bag. I do like the security of them.
I preview most of the properties I show. When I don't, I always regret it. I use it as a process of elimination AFTER I get to know my clients well.
I really like the idea of making one call to schedule instead of calling each individual listing. Hopefully CSS will expand to Las Vegas in 2010.
Hi Svetlana, congrats on the feature. CSS does make things quite easy, and I enjoy scheduling on line with them. I'm glad you highlighted all the things we do just for showings, because I'm not sure buyers realize how hard we work behind the scenes.
Sherry - Sure, previews can save time, even if we spend hours previewing the houses for our clients. However, sometimes we really don't have time to preview - not because we are too busy but because it may be too hot property , which our buyers need to see immediately! It happened few times in 2009. Looks like we'll see more of these situations in 2010.
The Centralized showing service can make it easier when setting multiple properties. I for one see the electronic lock boxes about 1 every 20 showings. Not everyone has the electric keys so it can limit the accessibility.
Team Honeycutt (Allen Tate) - Ability to schedule appointments after hours is a great advantage of using the oursourced showing systems! I'm glad that it works for you, too!
Patricia - Thanks for commenting! Working with buyers isn't easy but may be so rewarding!
Stacey-Ann - Good to know that your showing system Accushow is cheaper than CSS. I would love to pay less for the same great services. Good for you that you have such opportunity!
Joetta - I am so glad that you mentioned aerial maps! That's truly a blessing that we have these maps nowadays. It may be tricky to find out, are there high tension power lines on the back yard or not. Like Sherlock Holmes, you are looking for specific shadow on the aerial picture LOL. It saves a lot of time and frustration!
Lisa - I like that you noticed how friendly these guys are. Regarding e-mail confirmation, I am a little bit confused with this new feature, especially when your sellers need to confirm the showing. I'm sure that I will be able to figure it out:)
Julia - I wish, everyone in our area used it, too. Routing a tour is very convenient!
Chris - Thanks for your comment! You are absolutely right that CSS can not help a lot when the sellers make an access to the house more complicated than we expect. Regarding lock boxes, that's true. In the winter time I would love everyone to use Iboxes though - they are not freezing as often as regular combo boxes (:
In MASS, we have MA Pass, which is great. Same thing where we can set up multiple appointments over the phone during one phone call or do it on-line with some mouse clicks.
Aaron - that is a very smart approach to know your clients first, then preview for them. Otherwise, there is a big risk of not getting the tiny signals from the buyers while showing them the houses and take a wrong assumption.
John - that's indeed a big convenience to call one number for all showing instructions! Hope, showing systems will expand to Las Vegas in 2010 for your and other agents' convenience.
Dan and Amy - Thank you! I wish I could highlight all the activities and pre-showing routine! This list will be too long! On-line scheduling is a great tool for me, too.
Bridget - I like using Iboxes on all my listings and ask agents who don't have electronic key to schedule my listings a little bit in advance, so I have a chance to arrange an access for them. In the areas where we mostly working, it's very rare that agents don't have electronic keys. However, it happens that I do not need an electronic key to show the houses because none of the listing agents on the route use them.
David - I haven't heard about MA Pass before. Sounds like a similar system. Good technology , isn't it?
One of the problems I have with the systems like MA Pass is they don't call you back for hours .. and if there is a problem.. then it is very difficult to change the schedule when you have multiple showings. I like the "old" system a lot better for this reason.
I like to let the clients choose a few houses for the first day, and then once I get a feel for them, we go back and select the next round to look at together
HI Svetlana - In our MLS, we use the Supra electronic lockboxes, and our keys communicate with MLS. It is a violation of our rules to use any other lockbox system. I love the system because for my listings, I get an alert whenever someone opens the lockbox and I can see the name, company, contact info, etc of the agent and exactly what date and time they entered. Makes it easy for follow-up. Very few homes listed in our area have no lockbox, and usually if the home is occupied, there are instructions of who to call to alert them we will be showing the property. Sometimes it is the agent, but often it is the seller - just so we won't catch them in the shower!
Svetlana: This is a great list to show buyers who may not know what all goes into showing them homes. Thank you for sharing!
All that we do for our clients in preperation forshowings does take time, effort and knowledge of our market area. Also taking tome to preview property prior to showing if you are not familiar with it.
I gave up being a "pop tart" REALTOR years ago. If someone calls and wants to see one of my listings, I will show it. However, if I get a call from someone not referred to me - just out of the blue - to show a house, I like to do some telephone pre-qual. "Who referred you to me?" If it's not my listing, how did they get my number? Are they working with another agent who has aready shown them 20 homes, and just because the agent is out of town they are calling me? Ideally, when I first start working with buyers, I like to get them in the office for a "planning session". This includes hooking them up with my favorite lender to make sure they are qualified. Then we go out and look at property. An agent friend lamented to me yesterday that she ran out on New Year's Eve to show a house, now the prospect won't return her calls. Alien abduction I suppose!
kp
Joan - One of my sellers just recently complained to me that it was problematic to get one of the showings moved to a later time via CSS. The problem was they did not want to get the showing to be "declined by sellers". All they wanted was to offer to a showing agent to reschedule the appointment for couple hours later. For some reason, CSS could not do this simple task. Indeed, listing agent can do it much faster than any third party showing service. Happily, problems happen not that often, and convenience overweighs the problems.
This is good information to convey, as new buyers don't know what they don't know. Those we've been working with get up-to-speed very quickly, about the steps we take prior to opening that first door. And I've noticed that with so many properties being listed by agents who don't know the local market or neighborhoods, much of the normally populated information is lacking, so I have to do a bit more homework to get the details for the client ahead of time.
I used to preview....and agree it's a great thing to do, but in my market, I really haven't been able to. The first problem is I have no time, as it is...I have more clients wanting to be in my car than I have time for. And second....they are often looking at 10-15 properties which would take an entire extra day (with my lack of time). Finally...with our multiple offer market...just getting in with a client is tough enough, these sellers don't really want any of us through thier homes.
Centralized Showing is great! not only just to setup showings for Buyeres, but, by providing feedback directly to sellers. I loike & so do my clients.
Sounds like an interesting system. I have a good idea of what it does but no how.
A stitch in time saves nine. This is true for clients as well. If they will let us have the time to find out what they really want, we can preview the inventory and find homes that they really want to see. In reality, clients watch too much DIY or HGTV and see that it only takes three properties to find the "one you love." Looking at 10, 15, or 20 or more homes that the clients "hate" only increases their flustration. Of course, if we don't show them 20 homes they think that we are only pushing homes that give us the best commision. Sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug.
Rob - That what I call a smart approach to buyer's services. Good for you and your clients!
Susan - I would love the same rule to be implemented in our MLS system! Seller in the shower is a realtor's nightmare! LOL
Dianne - Our clients indeed deserve to know what it takes to help them buy the right house. Once they know better, they become more cooperative and appreciative.
Scott - Sure, it takes time and sometimes we need to go extra mile even if it's not expected by anyone. Thanks for commenting!
Karen Pannell - Allien abduction is hillarious! Planning and pre-qualifying session is a right thing to do before you start showing the properties.
Very nice post and full of information. thanks for sharing. It's agents (REALTORS) like you, that help lots of others. I totally agree that we need to go the extra mile to help clients understand the process and know what to expect.
Thanks for your post, Svetlana! We use Centralized Showings in our company and it works great...never had problems with them. It's easy, $25 for the life of the listing and sellers love it because they can log-on as well and see the activity.
Thanks for sharing. I should have thought of this! <<<<<< HA >>>> (:-0
Karen Crowson - You are right about the seasoned buyers who know and appreciate our efforts much better. Regarding lack of informantion - sometimes listings, especially bank owned homes, look like a puzzle in MLS, not as a sales copy. In these cases our efforts double and tripple.
Karen Parsons-Fiddler - Lucky you are to work with so many buyers! We experienced the same thing here in Cleveland last summer when multiple bidding on some properties required immediate action for our buyers. No chance to preview !
Bill- That's great that it works for you and your clients. My clients love it, too!
Gene - Thanks for commenting. It sure is a very useful tool.
Matthew - Clients may be tough and spoiled by availability of Real Estate related information. We, the agents, outsmart any public "resources" any way, don't we?
Phyllis - Thank you very much for your kind words! Sometimes I think that it's our duty to go extra mile:) When clients know what to expect they make a better choice and are more happy with their decision. Good that we can help!
Doug - Sellers really love this feature. And it's so-o-o much easier for us to explain them hoe other people perceive their pricing, condition of the property, etc. Feedback report for the sellers is another valuable tool! Thanks for your nice comment!
nice blog with some good points ,,, good job!!!
Thank goodness for the internet. Don't know how it was done before all the online searches and information! Even getting the routes is so easy now.
Our MLS offers a scheduling service through ShowingTime that emails the listing agent with your showing request. It's easy to use and free, but like all systems, it's only as good as the agent on the other end. Sometimes they reply in a timely manner, sometimes they don't. Overall it's a good service though and can be a real time saver.
Gene - Thanks!
Karen Rittenhouse - Internet is our best friend. Funny, I remember how we discussed in our office in 1999 how it will look with the Internet property search. All other services which we get today would sound like magic that days!
Pat and Wayne - Thanks a lot for your right definition: like all systems, it's only as good as the agent on the other end.
I would love to have a Centralized Showing System. Dallas uses one, and I've seen how efficient it is for my sister to use.
I really have to disagree with all of you about "previewing" homes for your client. This might even have worked before the internet. Now, even if you set them up in the MLS to receive emails, or a portal system like our MLS provides, the client has access to Realtor.com and other portals, often on your own website. How do you justify not showing them a house that they liked on there, but you decided not to show it. To me, this is more than arrogant on the part of the buyer's agent. Show your client what is available and let them make the decision. What if one that you deemed unshowable turned out to be the one they like the best?
Slightly off topic, I know, but is it really the best use of your time? The tools that Svetlana are describing are meant to save time and aggravation, and yet you are wasting a day to look at property by yourself, and then with your client? Not good use of time or money.
Svetlana-
Completely agree! One of the most important preparations is research on mere availability of properties. If its not available or viable for your buyers, what's the point?!
www.GarrigusRealEstate.com
To practice real estate on our board you must participate in lockboxes and electronic messaging services.
Ty
Christine - It's real efficient for many agents to use this or similar system. Thanks for commenting!
Nic - Thank you for your very serious comment! I would agree that previewing would be not necessary at the era of Internet if all listing agents were diligent to put thorough and detailed descriptions, multiple photos, video tours, etc. In many cases we just don't know what's exactly offered for sale!
You are totally right about a danger of making decisions instead of buyers. However, good pre-qualifying session and one or two showing tours usually let us understand our cliets' needs and desires. Preciewing lets us eliminate obvious mismatches. In the real world we need to optimize our pre-showing activities in order to pick the right homes to show and use our and our clients' time wisely.
Todd and Devona - I agree with your point about mere availability of the houses. With all this bank owned homes, short sales, etc. we witness a lot of inaccurate information on status and availability in our MLS system. It's a shame, isn't it?
Ty - Good for your Board! I think it's a right approach to making Real Estate services more professional.
We have electronic entry here and it's great. We can get a print out of all showing activity.
I think Nic is right on. Previewing is not only a waste of time, but is ultimately not in your clients best interests. The only eception is if a client is almost ready to come from out of town to see a particular house and they want you to preview it for them so they can decide if it is worth the trip.