ACCESS GRANTED: THE KEY TO MAXIMIZING BUYER INTEREST AND OFFERS

If you’re gearing up to sell your house this spring, one of the early conversations we have with our clients is about how much access to give buyers. You may not realize just how important it is to make your house easy to tour.

Spring is the peak homebuying season, so opening up your house to as many showings as possible can really help you capitalize on all the extra buyer activity we see at this time of year.

Since buyer competition ramps up in the spring, buyers are going to want to move fast to see your house once they find your listing. And, if they see it and fall in love with it at a time they know they’re competing with other buyers, you may be more likely to get the offer you’re looking for on your home.

It’s understandable you want to keep the disruptions to your own schedule to a minimum, and you may be stressed about having to keep it clean, but it’s worth it. As an article from Investopedia explains:

“If someone wants to view your house, you need to accommodate them, even if it inconveniences you. Clean and tidy the house before every single visit. A buyer won’t know or care if your house was clean last week. It’s a lot of work, but stay focused on the prize.”

We walk through options with our clients like the ones below to make the showing process as easy as possible.

• Lockbox on the Door – A key is available via a lockbox, which makes it easy for agents to show the home to potential buyers. This gives the most flexibility because the key is on-site and convenient.
• By Appointment Only – We recommend that your home can be ready to show with just a 30 minute notice but ulitmately you can decide how much notice you need.  Whatever you decide, you will have advanced warning so you can get the house tidied up and be sure you have somewhere else you can go in the meantime. 
• Limited Access – You might go this route if you only want to have your house available on specific days or at certain times of day. But realize this is the most difficult and least flexible of the choices.

As an article from U.S. News Real Estate says:

“Buyers like to see homes on their schedule, which often means evenings and weekends. Plus, they want to be able to tour a home soon after they find it online, especially if they're competing with other buyers. If your home can be shown with little or no notice, more prospective buyers will see it. If you require 24 hours’ notice, they may choose to skip your home altogether.”

We work with our clients to find the right path forward based on their schedule and what’s working for other sellers in the area. And if you’ve got a hardline on granting buyers more access or have interested out of town buyers that just can’t be there in person, we will get creative and help you explore other options like video tours, virtual showings, and more.

Bottom Line

When it comes to selling your house, you want to be sure to get as much buyer activity as you can. Let’s connect to talk about which level of access helps make that possible.