Accompanied Showings ... A Disservice to Everyone
John Capomaccio, Guest Blogger
Do listing agents need to be at showings? John Capomaccio, a broker with New Age Real Estate in Haverhill, Mass., says emphatically no.
This has happened to me a number of times: A listing agent insists on being present at showings but can’t make it when my buyers want to see the property. So, I show the buyers similar properties, and they make an offer on one of those properties that’s accepted and eventually closes. The property with the accompanied showing was never viewed by my buyers. I wonder if the sellers of that property realize that if their property was on a lockbox it would have been shown.
Do the listing broker or the home seller believes they have a better chance of selling the property if the listing agent is there? Not only do I think it doesn’t help, I believe it hurts. Many buyers have told me they are uncomfortable with the listing agent there. I have had a few buyers tell me not to make appointments with properties where the listing agent is present. Let buyers’ agents do their job! They know the buyers’ wants and needs. Buyers tend to stay longer in a property when they are with their agent alone. They pay more attention to the details. If they have any questions, they can always have their agent contact the listing agent.
Accompanied showings limit the number of times a property can be shown, and in this market they’re a big disservice to sellers.
Now that sub agency is almost totally eliminated, liability should not be an issue. And, personally, when I list a property, I don’t want to do buyer’s agents’ job for them.
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Comments
While I understand the perspective of this writer, as a recent homeseller, I respectfully disagree. There are too many issues with lockbox security for me to ever be comfortable having one on my door. And I truly appreciated the fact that my agent was present at all showings, since showings do consist of complete strangers walking through my home. For my own peace of mind, I insist on the comfort of knowing my agent is there. Each agent has a job to do and their own client's interest to protect. And we should not forget that "a property" is someone's home, first and foremost, in my opinion.
Posted by: Jennifer Cavendish | August 21, 2008 12:03 PM
As bothersome as accompanied showings are, often it is important to the seller. Maybe they are elderly and can't leave the house or uncomfortable showing the house on their own, or just plain high maintainance people, its part of our job at times. So suck it up and accomodate.
Posted by: Brenda Ferdman | August 21, 2008 03:18 PM
There are times when I will agree with John that the Listing Agent should not be present for a showing where the Buyer's Agent has the buyer in tow - mostly because the Listing Agent wants to talk about, and tell the Buyers, what is important to the Sellers. If the Buyer's Agent has truly done their job, either the property has been previewed or sufficient research has been done to give the Buyers a reason to see the interior of the property. Tenant occupied properties make the job just that much harder, with restricted hours of access, no lockbox, and additional time on the job for the Listing Agent who is always required to be present for the tenants' protection. When I must be present as Listing Agent, I usually ask the Buyer's Agent if they want me to be the guide, or if they would like me to wait at the door. Both work for me.
Posted by: Sandi Pfister | August 26, 2008 03:30 PM