Let's face it, showings can be an inconvenient part of selling your home, but it's a necessary part of the selling process.

The goal is to make the buyer feel at home during a showing so that they can envision themselves living there.

• Turn on lights for them if you can before you leave.
• Make sure that they have space to enter the house and take off shoes. In winter, leave a large mat there for wet/snowy shoes and boots.
• Make sure things are picked up around the house, and that bills or personal information is not left out in the open.
• Don't leave cash or jewelry laying around.
• Have the home in show condition before you leave in the morning. That way if there is a showing during the daytime hours, it's ready to go.
• If you are notified of showings during the supper hour, you may want to consider dining out.
• Have a plan to somehow take care of pets (dogs mostly). You may want to have an arrangement with a neighbor to put dogs in kennels, or kennel them up the whole day, or be able to stop by during the day to kennel them up. Cats are usually less of an issue.
• Expect some lights to be left on.
• Don't use an alarm system while your house is actively on the market. Also turn off the "beep" on the control panel.
• Make it easy for people to get in your home by making all the locks (including the garage) the same key. That way we only need 1 key in the lockbox for people, and it'll open all the doors.
• Leave the front door light on, or whichever light is needed to open the house up.

Marketing materials and pertinent documents should be left inside the house in a prominent place, usually the kitchen counter, or the dining room table.

Showings

Showings are usually scheduled in 1 hour blocks. It's unlikely the potential buyer will be at your house this whole time, but during a 5+ home tour it allows for time discrepancies between houses. Please try to be as accommodating as possible including doing your best to confirm short notice showings. Most showings last 5 minutes to 15 minutes. If they really like the home, they may be there 30 minutes or even the full hour. If you get back and you see them in the house, just wait across the street. They will most likely be done in just a few minutes.

After Showings

Please expect your house to be in a different state than it was when you left it. It's not intentional, but when an agent is showing 8 houses at a time and rushing to get to the next one with 4 other people in tow, things get missed.

If you have an attached garage and that's your primary entrance to the house, be sure to either carry a house key, or put one in the garage somewhere. Inevitably the garage service door to the house will get locked. I have heard of this happening many times. Either the agent will lock it when they close the door, or the buyer may lock it.