Showing Stress

I work hard when I take a listing.  My days are filled with putting out signs, taking photos, verifying tax bills, writing ad copy, calling utility companies and much, much more.  But my job is much easier than most homeowners.

When a house is on the market, a home owner must clean the gutters, manicure the lawn, paint the front door, hind the trash cans and that's just with hopes to have enough curb appeal that we get an appointment request.  When the showing request comes in, that's when the real work begins.

Yesterday I had a showing request for a family's home that have two daughters, aged 1 and 3.   When I arrived, the house was spotless......floors mopped, counters clean, beds made, absolutely no clutter and all the lights were on.  My seller greeted me with a big smile and then I heard it!  Not one, but two crying babies!   This particular showing came right in the middle of nap time and so both girls were taken from their bed and put in car seats so they could vacate the property for the showing.

And fortunately, in this case, my seller's efforts paid off.  We receive and accepted an offer last night.  But this was the 14th showing request for this property.  In a couple of incidences, the appointments were canceled just before the showing time and in at least once case, the buyers never showed up.  In one case, the buyers couldn't afford the house but they were curious to see it anyway.  And in all the other cases, the house just wasn't right for them for one reason or another.  But for each and every showing request, this house was cleaned and staged to perfection.  And regardless of the stress this caused, they always greeted me with a smile.

I wish I always could have that much grace.