House Viewings

I think no showings after 5 pm is unreasonable. Sorry.
If you want to sell a house, you HAVE to make it available.
Good luck!

Hi J.,

You sound quite frustrated right now. You already have decided when you will show the house, so no advice here.

Best of luck.

It was completely random when we sold ours. People have different schedules. They come when they are available. If it is a local person, they might spend their lunch hour to see one house per day off of a list. If they are from out of town, they will have a whole list to get through as quickly and efficiently as they can, usually in one day. So it could be any time throughout the day or evening. And that could be any day, b/c if someone is traveling to scout housing, they may have used vacation time (or relocation time) to do so.
For me and my husband, his days off were midweek (Wed and Thurs for years) so those are the days we would have been looking most likely. When we both worked, it was after 5:00 on one of those Wed or Thursdays.

You just never know who your prospective buyer is, so you can't really predict what is "average".
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ETA: No showings after 5? Really? If they are interested they will come before that? You really believe that? No, let me tell you what will happen... your house will pop up on a list of other similar houses (in price, BR/BR, etc) that the agent has pulled up from the MLS that fit the criteria of the buyers. When they set up the showings, yours may get knocked off the list b/c it just doesn't fit when they are available to see it. OR, they may move your house to Saturday... but continue seeing allllll the other houses on the list during the week. And guess what? The odds are that they may be quite happy with one of the homes they get to before yours and may NEVER see yours, b/c you made it too difficult.
You're fine with that? Good. Expect the hassle of the sales process to take a VERRRRY long time.

why are you asking? you've already decided!
i can't imagine disallowing viewings on weekday evenings. that's when we house-hunted. weekends too, but we looked at our very first house while the family was there cleaning up after dinner.
we both worked during the day during the week. it wasn't an option.
but if you have already decided that you're not having that, and that you don't care what people think, why ask?
khairete
S.

J.,

Sorry, Charlie. If I'm going to look at houses? I'm not taking time off work to do it. It will be the weekend or after work. That means after 5PM.

How bad do you really want to sell this house?
How bad do you REALLY want to move?
Answer honestly. It really sounds like you do NOT want to move...you talk a great game, but overall - "no viewings after 5pm" will NOT get your house sold. You are basically telling anyone and everyone "I don't really don't want to sell my home. I'm going to use the "baby" as an excuse"...for now..then it will be "my husband is on international travel" - there will always be an excuse. You are emotionally attached to the house. Your babies were born there...all the memories...yadda yadda yadda...

Time to sh*t or get off the pot. If you want to sell your home and move? you ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE flexible.

Good luck!!

When we were house hunting we did open houses on the weekends and viewings on weekday evenings. If there were houses on the MLS that were not available for viewing when we were out viewing we just never got to view them. I'm sure someone bought them eventually, it just wasn't us. We weren't trying to be unreasonable, we just didn't have time to look at houses during the workday.

What do you mean "because of the baby?"
We had to move a few times when our girls were still very small (still on the boob) and sure it was kind of a pain but you do what you gotta do right?
Besides, isn't it easier than with older ones? Babies don't make messes, they don't have homework and sports and meetings and a million other things every night.
I think if you want to sell your house (or car, or boat, or anything else) you put it out there, as often as you can.
But maybe you're not really ready to make the move...?

When you say you won't be allowing nights, what time do you mean? We tend to look at houses on Friday nights between 6-8 pm. That's our only option for looking other than Sundays. You've gotta be flexible, within reason, of what your prospective buyers are going to request for viewing times.

ETA: Oh wow, 5 pm? Good luck with that! I act as property manager for our 3 rental units, and when I am trying to fill a property, I make sure I meet the tenants' needs. We are trying to "sell" our rental to them--I bring the kids with me in the car, drive over to the rentals, whether it is 3 pm or 7 pm. I do it because that is what is required to make the sale. No, not all of the people who come at that time end up being the actual tenants, but so far every person I have rented to has seen the property at night.

ETA2: Back in November our neighbors 4 houses down had their house on the market. We wanted to buy it to use as a rental--our realtor called several times with various times we could come by and see it--all of which were in the evening, since my husband MUST see anything we want to buy, but they didn't want to interrupt their dinner. Well, the sellers ended up accepting an offer from someone before we even got a chance to write up an offer for it. We saw it a few hours before they accepted the offer from the other people, and were prepared to write an offer for $20k MORE than the offer they accepted. If only they would have let us in there to take a look--they could have had an extra $20k in their pockets!

We showed our houses between the hours of 8am and 8 pm, 7 days, with at least one hour notice (no easy feat with three kids and a dog). And that may be why we sold them within 4 weeks.

:)

I think you not showing when it doesn't work for you is a bad idea when you want to sell your house. Baby or not, if you want to sell, you have to be ready to leave at any time. My friends tossed more dinners in the trash than they ate because people came after work - when it was convenient for them. For my husband and I, that would be around 6pm most nights.

You've gotten pretty much the same response from every mom here...you have to be willing to show when the potential buyers want to look. When we were looking, a few of the sellers were difficult right from the start and we walked away every time.

Sounds to me like you don't really want to sell if you don't understand that MOST people who work (and most people who can afford a house have at least one adult working) will want to come after work. I would not take leave to accomodate a sellers schedule...I'd find a more reasonable seller.

When you limit the hours that you will allow your house to be shown to this extent, you have to be prepared to lose potential buyers. If you are OK with this and can afford to pay two mortgages at the same time, then so be it.

5pm isn't "night" it's early evening. If you don't care how long your house sits on the market then impose that restriction, if you are motivated to actually sell, it has to be available since the majority of buyers will be employed. Offering to show it at 8am isn't a compromise as that is still during the work day. I don't think saying no showings past 6:30-7pm is unreasonable, 5 not so much. Sorry, that's clearly not what you want to hear.

It sounds like you don't really want to sell your house. Sorry but if husband and wife work all day you really think your house is so amazing they will both take off work to see it?

Say you like your house in the woods, do you really think they are going to allow you to enter into a contingency until you sell your home? They will get another offer and you will have to remove all contingencies or lose the house. Then you are locked into a time frame. Unless you can afford to own two homes at once you need to be flexible on the hours.

It isn't like people are going to be knocking down your door. Most people that are window shopping come for the open houses on the weekends. Serious buyers are going to expect to see the house when it is convenient to them.

It really depends on your area. If most of the people in your neck of the woods are 'white collar' workers then they are going to view houses after 5PM. If a lot of the people in your area are shift workers then maybe you could get away with nothing after 5PM. Personally, my husband and I would be viewing houses on weekdays after 4PM as that is when he gets off work. If it were difficult for me to view a house I would just take it off my list regardless of how nice it seemed. An unaccommodating seller isn't someone with whom I wish to deal. But, hey, your mind is made up so you do what you will. If you find your house doesn't sell as quickly as you would like you might have to do the evening showings. Good luck!

We always had a minimal amount if time to tidy up and leave when we got a call for a showing.

With our last house, I was anal about keeping it perfect and at the same time, we had a dog with cancer so I had asked to please not come unannounced so I could make sure she was ok.

Well, the family who bought our house showed up unannounced when we were not home and my sweet sick dog had vomited and had diarrhea on her specified area.

I was embarrassed but they loved the house and bought it. Don't sweat over it too much and be flexible.

I don't think anyone I know had many showings during the day that were....the actual buying view....not saying it right.

One person would come and see the house when they were available and if they though hubby would want to see it those views were always in the evening when hubby was off work. He's really NOT going to take off work to accommodate your desire for an early bedtime. 5pm is extremely early for anyone who works.

If you really don't want buyers to come after they get off work I would imagine your house will still be on the market in several months and then the only way you'll sell it is to lower the price a couple of times.

People don't come see the houses for the final decision to buy it during the daytime hours, they want to be in it after dark so they can see how loud the night time is, to see if they hear traffic, hear neighbors partying, see kids fighting in the streets, etc...

I truly believe that couples make the decision together and they're most likely to want to see your home during the evening hours.

By the way, baby's are easy to pick up, put them in the car seat, drive a few minutes and they're out again. They don't care and they aren't any worse for the wear.

Well, here's my 2 cents. For one thing, it's a good idea not to try to keep the house so quiet around the baby. I used to talk on the phone, tv on, vacuum, etc and my kids could sleep anywhere and through anything.

That being said, if you want to sell the house, you need to show it after 5pm. Most people work 8-5 during the week. You don't have to leave and if they come over just say, the baby is asleep in this room, please be quiet or just a quick peek in.

I just went around with my mom house-hunting and many people were in the house while we were there so it doesn't really matter. You need to make more of an effort if you want to sell the house. Good luck.

When is your "broker tour" day, you know, the day of the week for open houses for realtors only? I assume you need to plan on people coming through on that day too. Here it's on Tuesdays.
Beyond that, interested people will want to see a house when it fits their schedule. We last sold in 2000, in a hot market with a 7, 4 and 1 year old. Lucky for us it sold quickly, but I was pretty open to showing it day or night, we were ready to get out of there!

Here in southern Florida it seems like it happens at all hours. I had someone want a 10 am slot on a Saturday morning. I felt like saying "um if you don't mind teens still asleep in their beds that's fine." :P

I try to accommodate any request that we possibly can.

We both worked and continue to work full time. The only time we could see a thing was between 6:30 and 10pm on weeknights or on weekends.

Your baby can be put into a car seat for her evening nap, and then you put her in the snap and go or the car and take the kids for a stroll, or all of you can camp out in the den or the family room while the potential buyers look around.

It can work if you want it to.

Best,
F. B.

What my real estate agent did was call an hour in advance for a showing. That way, I could clear out. Then the people could see my home. In the daytime (if it wasn't cold), the backyard would be fine to go into.

I doubt the baby is the real reason for the 5:00 deadline - it's more because of dinner time for all the kids, right?

When I was on the other side of it, looking at houses to buy, I have to say that I really checked OFF properties a lot. If I couldn't get into a house, it went off my list. (That happened when someone in the family was sick. They said that we couldn't come in for a week. We bought a house before the week was up and never got to consider it.) We were working so we could only look on weekends or evenings. Most people looking at houses are working, J.. If the wife is at home during the day and comes, she still will bring her husband...

I don't know if you will consider trying to be more flexible, but it would help you sell your house if you can...

J. - you will be sitting on a house for a while. When we were looking, it was after work and on weekends. That is just the fact of life. You can say no viewings after 5 p.m. Its your house, but then you will be upset in a couple of months when the house hasn't sold.

We sold our first home after my husband moved to the new location. I had a toddler. I was getting ready to bath her and the door bell rang. A naked toddler opened the door before I could get to it. There stood a couple and their agent. Guess what? These are the folks who purchased our home!

Is it a pain in the butt? Yep but most things in life are we just deal with it.

It is usually at the convenience of the buyers, so it could be anytime. I would ask that they did not come during dinner time when I was in the middle of cooking. It was too hard to clean up and get dinner eaten that night. If they called the day before or early in the morning for a dinner time showing, we would go out to eat. Ask if there is a particular day that the realtors do viewings of houses that are for sale. In the evening now with daylight savings time, we had more people look after work in early evening and even up to when it got dark. We are had 2 people ask to see the house at night. One eventually gave us a contract. They wanted to check the traffic in the area at night, the noise in the neighborhood and the exterior lighting on the house. Good luck with your house sale!

The housing market in Chicago and the near suburbs seems to be heating up. I think you will find a buyer if your house is priced correctly.

I would say that unilaterally saying no to showings after 5:00 might be a turn-off to many buyers. Perhaps you could just ask for a 12 hour notice, and if it is not convenient for you, you can suggest another time on a weekend. (You're not saying no to showings after 5:00 pm weekend days too, are you?) And maybe if it is a Friday night, you're husband would be willing to help with the kids during a showing.

It only takes one serious buyer who falls in love with your house to get your house sold. I would imagine that a few good showings in the evening are way less disruptive than several showings during the day over the course of months. Good luck! I hope your house gets snatched up quickly.

Weeknights and weekends are the high traffic times. It's practically the only time working folks have to house hunt.

We requested one hour before showings but even that was a PITA. We had one showing at 7 p.m. on a Monday night and they freaking camped out in an "omg can't you people leave already fashion." We left home but wound up sitting down the street in the car like stalkers. At some point what do you do with your kids at 8:30 p.m. on a weeknight? I certainly hear you about not allowing showings in the evenings during the week. It disrupts the family schedule and in cases with very young children it rapidly becomes excruiating. However, we sucked it up because we wanted our house sold rapidly. The short term pain for the long gain...

With all of that said if the market is hot like ours is, then people know to strike while the iron is hot which means you can and will see traffic during the day because people are taking off work to see houses. Showings were my hot spot; I hated strangers in my house and disrupting my toddler's schedule but such is the nature of the beast. Good luck.

I think it is reasonable to ask for 12-24 hour notice. In the end though if you are trying to sell you need to be flexible for potential buyers.

It really depends on the real estate market in your area.

Some people will completely pass on your home if they have to wait or if you have limited viewing times. I have seen homes sit on the market a lot longer then they should because of that (here in FL the market has been really good).

Since you are living in the home and have a baby then I would tell your realtor that you need 24 hours notice but to call you first to see if you can accommodate them. If you really want/need to sell your home then I would stay flexible.

Also not too many people will come at night, most will want to see it better during the daylight hours.

EDIT: If you really want to move out of this house into another one whenever that happens, are you really ready to do what has to be done to sell the current one? Babies and kids are flexible, it sounds like you don't want to move out of this one. You have given us questions high and low about housing hunting and such and now you are putting on the brakes by limiting your viewing times. Stop and think of what you really want and just do it and get on with life and move!
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It will depend on the day and your location. If you are in an area that is a hot market, quite a bit.

What you have to decide in your listing is when or the times that you will be available for showing. So if you have a baby then no viewing after 4pm. or before 9am.

When I did real estate Wednesday morning was our day of looking at new listings. So we would all go and view houses from 9 to 11. It was so every realtor had an "idea" of what was new on the market for potential buyers.

Good luck with your sale.

the other S.

Most will view on weekends, second after work (after 5pm).

My realtor put notes in to give 24 hours notice. Generally people want to see it on their terms, so a good realtor needs to control the buyers' agents and make your house seem sought after.

I was bending over backwards and had offers. Those offers fell through and they were VA loan (they wrote a family story about the husband being in the war and now a policeman who needed this family neighborhood in a gated community while he was working in the gang ridden city). After having our heart strings pulled we went with an all cash offer from someone who didn't even see it (he trusted his realtor). He knew he could rent it out for a lot (rental market was up and purchase price low). It closed in 10 days after we accepted his offer.

If your house is one of the cheapest houses in expensive neighborhood, you have more control.

I just wanted to say, there's no rule saying you need to leave the house for a showing. We had a house on the market when my daughters were 2 and 4 months. If it wasn't convenient to leave the house at a particular time we just stayed but stayed out of the way. We had it set up for an hours notice. You may want to reconsider banning night viewings, at least until 7 p.m. Good luck!

There are usually what is called "Broker" open houses or Broker tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Other than that, the only time a showing would happen is when your realtor let you know that they were bringing people by, or when another realtor wanted to show the home.

During the week, people view houses in the evenings when they get off of work.

You're free to do whatever you want in terms of limiting he hours for showings...

That being said, I certainly hope (for your sake) that your area is a sellers market.

No showings after 5pm on week days is pretty ridiculous, honestly. You may as well say no weekday showings. If people cannot come and view your house after they get off of work in the evening, then they really cannot view your house.

Unless there are VERY few homes on the market in your area, buyers are going to find other homes before they get a chance to see yours... heck, even if there ARE very few homes on the market, if they see a house they like and can't see your house for three more days, they're likely to just put an offer in on the other house rather than wait around until your baby is awake and risk losing a house they know they like.

Selling a house sucks, it's inconvenient, but the more of that inconvenience you deal with head on, the shorter a time period you'll be enduring it.

Hope this helps.

Have your realtor put the word out about your house early to other realtors before it hits the market. The house across the street for me had at least ten showings before it was officially listed. It was under contract in 2 days. I have also seen realtors who put a sign in the front yard that reads "coming soon." It's great to create demand and make people feel they might lose the house to someone else.

When we were looking if something was coming on to the market and we wanted to see it....we made it happen. (Or our realtor went on her own and did a preview for us.) I don't find the after 5:00 stipulation off putting at all. If they want your house, they will take time off of work. If after a few months your house still hasn't sold and you are getting concerned revisit your 5:00 cut off.

Sometimes being hard to get plays in your favor. Especially if your house is nice and priced right.

Good luck!