We made the decision a long time ago that we won't take a listing if the seller will not allow a lockbox to be placed on the home. Sellers have to be ready to have their home shown at any time, even with a very short notice. In the current Jacksonville real estate market, with the large amount of inventory, buyers are not patient. If you turn away a showing because the house is messy, or you are going out of town, or the agent (or homeowner) has to provide access because there is no lockbox...the buyer will probably never attempt to return to your home to view it later.
We have a 13 month inventory level in the Jacksonville real estate market currently based on the past year's sales. We have a 19 month inventory level in Jacksonville if you base it on closed sales in the past month. It is a very bad idea for a Jacksonville home seller to be anything less than completely accommodating. There are plenty of other homes to see besides yours, and if you make it difficult, they will elect not to see yours.
Be flexible with timeframes. If the agent has requested a showing between 10 and 12, don't insist on a one hour window. Don't insist on a 30 minute window. Don't insist that they move it to 11-1. Just smile, say okay, and start cleaning! When the agent is working with serious buyers...many times they are showing quite a few homes, and have arranged them into a common sense order, and can not be bothered with requests to shift and rearrange the appointments for a homeowner. They will probably just skip your home.
Another bad idea is to have the agent, or homeowner, meet the buyer and agent at the home to provide access. Buyers do not want to have to entertain an agent or homeowner when they simply want to see if the home may be right for them. Buyers do not want someone to try to sell them the home. Buyers can differentiate between the master bedroom and the kitchen. Buyers even know which features are upgrades. Buyers usually know within the first three to five minutes of entering the home whether it is something they are interested in. They usually decide they are not interested if they feel like they can not freely look at the home because of interference.
Interestingly enough, we usually find the areas with the highest inventories are the hardest to schedule appointments in. Jacksonville Beach, for instance, has roughly a 20 month inventory (almost 2 years!!!) based on both the past year's sales and sales for the past 30 days. Yet, we find that a lot of homes there are difficult to show or come with a lot of requests (narrow that window, call the listing agent 30 minutes before so they can meet you, etc.). At the same time, Southside and Mandarin have two of the lowest inventory levels in the area, both around 10 months based on the past year's sales and 15 months based on the past 30 days sales, but these are the easiest homes to show. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned.
If you are selling your home in this market, you have to be serious about the task. This includes making your home easily accessible and pricing it right. Do not hire someone because they tell you want you want to hear. Hire someone who is not afraid to tell you the truth if you want to be successful in selling your home.
