selling your home when you work & have kids

Does your realtor have the key to your home so that they can show it while you are at work? or do you only allow them to come on weekends when you can be sure the home is neat, toys are put away, etc?

If you hold open houses, are either you or your DH present? My mom reminded me of when we sold my childhood home several years ago, the realtor was showing someone the garage/backyard area & people were going in & out of the house while he had no idea what was going on inside. She never left during her open house & now her paranoia of people stealing is rubbing off on me!

selling your home when you work & have kids

I went to a few open houses and the HO were not there. I personally did not like the HO being present during a showing because I was not able to feel comfortable, speek freely, or really inspect the house. We purchased a vacant home.

Re: selling your home when you work & have kids

Of all the houses we looked at the homeowner was never home. Same with open houses. I preferred it that way.

Re: selling your home when you work & have kids

when selling our home, I took the kids somewhere, and DH satyed with the realtor...I would not NEVER be home.
There were a few times when I had the kids there, but went outside, sometimes it is just not doable. I never let the realtor do it without DH or myself being there. I wouldnt be able to trust anyone...JMO

selling your home when you work & have kids

When we were looking, the homeowners were almost never there. One house we looked at a couple of time, the homeowners were always there and it made it much more awkward and we felt rushed because they went outside while we were inside

Re: selling your home when you work & have kids

I
Does your realtor have the key to your home so that they can show it while you are at work? he does have a key but usually waits for me to get home (by 3:30 to show). It stinks having to make sure the house is in tip top shape every morning, like today I didnt so if he calls me and wants to show I will tell him he has to wait until 4pm or show it tomorrow.


If you hold open houses, are either you or your DH present?

We did one, we were not there but had removed all valuables from our house. My brother passed through to check in and make sure all was well.

It is very annoying sorry

Re: selling your home when you work & have kids

With open houses, at my company we always have 2 real estate agents working together. This is to both safeguard the security of the seller's home (we don't want people wandering through unescorted), and for the safety of the agents (I personally don't want to be alone in a house where anyone can walk in off the street with good or not good intentions).

We always sign people in, and we reserve the right to ask for photo id. If people are not cooperative with providing the information, we ask them to leave. But we never really have a problem with this - most home buyers know it's par for the course with open houses. Then, one of us escorts the group through and shows the house, while the other waits for the next customer. If we get mobbed with multiple people at once, we ask people to please wait in the foyer or living room or wherever until we can come back and sign them in and take them through.

It's very important for the listing agent (or whoever is working the open house) to take control of the situation. That being said, I always advise my seller clients to put away any valuables and don't leave cash or even medications out.

As far as showings - it really depends on your personal preference. In an occupied home, it's common for the showings to be scheduled by appointment with the sellers. So then you would be home for the showings to let the agents in. If a seller has very long work hours, or travels for work, then a key might be left at the listing agents' office, or even a lockbox put on the house (but personally I do not like to put a lockbox on occupied homes; I would only do it for a vacant house unless seller really insisted).

However, if you do give a key to the listing agent, I would recommend against insisting your agent escort the key for every showing. In my office, if an agent calls up to schedule a showing, we take all of their information, and we know they are a licensed MLS member. So there should be no issue with another agent showing. If you insist your agent be there for every showing, you are really limiting the number of showings you get (assuming your agent has other clients/listings and may have scheduling conflicts), which hinders your chance of selling. I know it can be tough to keep things in "showing condition" with kids, but I think it's best to allow as many showings as possible to maximize your chances of selling for top dollar. It should be reasonably neat, but people understand your home is lived in and not a museum!

If you are home for showings, I recommend being pleasant and available for questions, but staying in one room or outside (basically, being unobtrusive) and letting the agent who is doing the showing escort his buyers through. Buyers feel to inhibited to really look at the house and take everything in when the seller walks around with them, in most cases.

Good luck! And let me know if I can help or if you have other questions about selling.

Re: selling your home when you work & have kids

There was a lockbox on our house. You don't want to limit the showings to when you are only there. You will miss alot of showings. Obviously, don't leave valuables around. We had a ton of showings at our house and we were never around. Nothing stolen. The agent is there. For open houses we weren't there either. If they wanted to steal my kids' stuffed animals or toys, then go for it. Lots of people don't feel comfortable when the owner is around. You can't speak freely about the house. I also saw a ton of homes and only once was the owner there.