Pelican Bay Sellers - We Have To Talk

"About what?" you ask.  We need to talk about getting your home sold by making your home easy to show.  After the depressing article in the Naples Daily News this morning, you will need to pay close attention to how your home is being marketed.

Before you placed your Pelican Bay home on the market, I am sure you sure spent time preparing your home for sale.  Hey!  I remember the hours I spent on just cleaning out our closets in our former home in Downers Grove, IL.  My husband, Don, and I toiled hours over clearing out our basement.  Our basement cleaning could be a whole separate blog entry.

Your home is sparkling clean, all your clutter has vanished, you have your home priced to the current market (not the fantasy land market) and you are now waiting for showings.  Have you discussed with your agent how showing appointments will be handled?

The number one way to attract as many showings as possible is to have your home priced correctly.  You then should agree to show on short notice AND put a key box on your front door knob.  Let's talk about different showing methods.

This photo shows you what a key box looks like and a Realtor® keypad. The grey box's shackle loops around your door knob.  The metal box that shows at the bottom of the key box holds your key secure inside the key box.  Entry to the key box is gained through the coded Realtor® keypad.  This code protected keypad has to be update daily by the Realtor® in order to be used.

When an electronic key box is placed on your residence, it allows you, the seller, the comfort of knowing the key box is recording all the showing Realtors® who access your key.  A key box also gives you the freedom of not waiting around to open the door for the showing Realtor®!  You should be called by your Realtor® so you know you have a showing - you just do not have to be there because you have a key box!

These electronic key boxes are something else.  When your Realtor® registers your key box to the GE Supra system, any time an agent shows your home; your agent is sent an e-mail telling them that your home was shown! This allows your agent to call the showing agent to see what the agent's buyers thought about your home.  It's great to know what buyers are thinking about your home, isn't it?

A non electronic key safe is another method that could be used to secure your key for showings.  The non electronic key safe is a box that has a combination lock.  The combination must be given to the showing agent so that your key can be accessed.  The showing agent would call the listing agency and say that they want to show your home.  If you were not there to open the door for the showing agent, that agent would be given the combination to the key safe.  Quite frankly, if I were a seller, I would rather have the electronic key box.  To have the same combination, which has to be changed manually,  given to multiple agents, would not make me feel as secure.

Another way to show your home if you are not home or not in residence, is that your agent could provide a key to your home to be picked up from their office by the showing agent. - I still would prefer the key box!

There is still yet another way to show your home and that is called, "Listing Agent Must Accompany".  The title is self explanatory. In my opinion this method is the kiss of death for most showings.  In few instances this method is necessary.

Now Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I would like you to put yourselves in the shoes of a Pelican Bay Realtor® who has a plethora of homes they could show in Pelican Bay.  Say that you decide to show your buyer 10 properties that meet their criteria.  Would you like to drive to 10 other Real Estate offices to pick up keys to show AND drop them back to the office you picked them up?  Would you like to try to schedule 15 minute windows to give 10 listing agents who HAVE TO accompany all showings?  (I could write volumes about trying to schedule multiple showings where listing agents HAVE TO accompany me.)  Would you want to keep track of all the different combinations you would need for 10 different key safes?  I bet that you are starting to see why having a key box on your residence will help you get more showings.

You may have some valuables in your home that you are worried about someone stealing if you have a key box on the house.  Mr. and Mrs. Seller I would tell you this; the way you sell a house is not how you live in it.  Do not leave expensive jewelry or cash out on your dressers - get a safety deposit box and put your valuables away while you are trying to sell your house.  Secure and put your guns out of sight if you own them.  Pack away any other valuables so they are not visible during showings.

You may be wondering what prompted this blog entry.  Last week I battled trying to make showing appointments for my buyers.  Unfortunately a number of the appointments were "Listing Agent Must Accompany."  Throughout my appointment I kept getting calls from listing agents asking me what exact time I would arrive at their listing.  By the end of the day, my buyers were asking me why a listing agent had to be there to open up a home after we had seen homes that allowed entry with keyboxes. 

Some agents feel that if they are there they can show their listing to the best of its potential.  Mr. and Mrs. Seller, most buyers know if they like a place the minute they walk through the door.  Can you remember when you knew your home was the one?

The bottom line to getting your home sold in today's market is to price it to market, make your home available for short notice showings and get a key box on your door knob!