If you ask 100 real estate agents, I bet the majority would give you the following as three of the biggest pet peeves when showing houses:

  1. Hard to make an appointment to show;

  2. The feeling of intrusion; and

  3. Making friends with the family pet.

My partner and I cover most Northern New Jersey towns like West Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Millburn/Short Hills, Verona, Nutley and the like. Things may differ in other parts of NJ or the country but I know real estate here and can tell you these pet peeves make it hard for real estate agents to get homes sold. And, isn’t that suppose to be the goal if you put your house on the market to sell in the first place?

It sometimes feel that sellers feel so inconvenienced about selling their homes that they really want to shout out - 

“COME ON, I DARE YOU TO SHOW MY HOUSE

…AND, IF YOU DO, YOU BETTER DEAL WITH THE WAY WE ARE!”

 

Appointments. Just a few days ago I was trying to show three houses and surprisingly all three of them did not have a lockbox. A lockbox is what real estate agents use to obtain a key to access the house. Once I trigger the lockbox all of my information is sent back to the listing agent along with the time that I opened the box. Some owners do not like to use these. I think they want a sense of control, to see who’s coming in their house and to make sure all is okay. In my six years in real estate I’ve never had an incident using the lockbox that would hurt the owner. Okay, the lights may have been left on and I did lock myself out the house once when I first started in the business, but I think we all survived. I’m not sure if homeowners think someone will steal things or what, but I truly hope their listing agent is telling them that this alone reduces the amount of showings.

I’ve had homeowners tell me what’s best for them: “I can’t do Tuesday evening, but you can come on Friday after 6pm OR I can’t do 10:30am, but 2pm will be fine.” Homeowners are responsible for access, showing condition and price — each one of these factors must be as perfect as possible. Changing times and days are many times hard to accomodate with a buyer unless it’s a house they just really got to see. I map out the houses to achieve the best travel route. If the owner’s house is smack in the middle of the route and now they want to go first, it changes everything. This sometimes irritates the buyers because they are wondering why they are going crisscross through the town(s). 

Intrusion. This relates to having the owner there when you’re showing a house. Sometimes owners may require you to make an appointment to show the house when they are there, but at least they leave the house while you’re showing it. Many, however, stay and follow you room to room, telling you about the pictures and little things special to them about the house. I’ve had some start dinner. The craziest is when an adult is sleeping in bed and the person opens the bedroom door and says ‘go on in and look around, he/she won’t mind’. Buyers feel so awkward, they end up focusing on these distractions rather than what the house offers. It also irritates buyers and they may be polite in front of the owner, but they will quickly cross the house off the list.

Pets. I’ve had dogs, cats, birds and more as pets, but my clients may not want to befriend yours just to see the house. Thank goodness many people lock up their pets or put them in a place where it won’t distract the buyer. However, I’ve been in many situations where you’re forced to try to play with the pet, etc. just to see the house (and hopefully, not smell the house). This is not good simply because a seller will never know if that perfect buyer is allergic to an animal or just scared or bothered by the animal. This in itself may turn the buyer off from the house. Once, I opened a front door and before I could get all the way into the house two cats jumped on me and dung their nails into my jacket.

Friendly Reminder. With all the competition in the area, every seller should look to do all he can to have the house in tip top shape to show the features of the house — not your family or life. I know keeping a house show ready feels like a part-time job and takes some effort. But you are selling a house, not your home.

As real estate agents, our job is to sell houses. Help us help you. Use a lockbox, don’t be around (it’s okay to walk in the back or sit in the car, but don’t be a presence) and keep your pets to yourself.