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Anthony: Properties listed on Thursday but no showings until the open house on Sunday from 12:00 to 1:30, and that’s it. The only showing time is during that time. No, stop. Why do we keep doing that? Why is that starting to happen in the last two years? Not starting to happen? Why is that happening as a matter of practice? That should be the exception, not the rule.
I talked about this very thing in this Crush It In Real Estate video, which is the last five minutes of my keynote speech two weeks ago at our event, and I went on and on about how buyer’s agents and listing agents need to work together to accommodate one another and to understand what it’s like to be in the other person’s shoes.
Take a look at the video. You can see some of it. Don’t be too restrictive with your showings. Let’s all work with sellers to encourage sellers to be as flexible as possible about getting people in. You can see, there, I talked about the importance of working together. The reason I wanted to do this follow-up video was because I wanted to talk specifically about open houses.
If you haven’t watched that entire video, make sure to watch it. We’re going to put the link in the comments when we post this particular video that I’m talking about now. Watch the whole thing. Every realtor needs to hear that right now across the country. I got a lot of great feedback on it over the weekend. That’s part of the reason that I’m doing this video, is a number of people said, “Hey, go deeper on open houses.”
Folks, I understand that there are times that it is necessary to list a home on a Friday and not do the open house until Sunday. Maybe painters have to get in, things like that. Most MLSs, there’s a 48-hour rule that you have to have showing within 48 hours. I know it’s necessary sometimes. Kids are home from college on school break, they’re not leaving all Saturday, the parents want a morning to clean up before people come in.
I get it, but that should be the exception, not the rule. Listing agents, your job is to expose your property to as many buyers as possible. That is your job. Don’t forget, for those of you that have been at this a long time, like me, 2008 to 2012, you were bending over backwards accommodating buyer’s agents and buyers because there weren’t enough. There weren’t enough buyers wanting to see your listing.
Believe me, that day is going to come back to us. This market’s going to change at some point. We’ll be back to appreciating buyer’s agents and buyers. Also, keep in mind, what about when you’re on the flip side? This week, you might have the listing, and you might feel great. “Oh, I’m going to force everyone to come at this certain time.”
Well, in three weeks, you might have a buyer, and one of those buyer’s agents you didn’t let in might have a listing. They’re going to remember that. As I said at the beginning, let’s make it the exception, not the rule. Let’s show our listings as much as possible. If all of us across all markets here in the country, this video’s going to go national to a national audience, if everybody makes an extra effort to get buyer’s agents and buyers in their listings and not be so restrictive to just open houses, we’re all going to do business in a better way.
Our clients are going to benefit from it, both buyers and sellers, and we’re all going to get along better. I’m seeing, as I said in that video, you got to watch it, more friction among realtors than I’ve ever seen, and it’s not necessary. That’s all. Talk to you soon.