Tips for a Successful Showing

It’s always a thrill when you find a home that you think will be perfect for your buyers. Helping your clients choose the perfect home for their family is one of the most rewarding parts of being a real estate agent. However, the home showing is just as crucial as the search phase. Here are some tips to ensure that your showing will go smoothly and that your buyers will have a positive experience.

Know the route

You don’t want to waste your clients’ time, or look like an amateur by being late to a showing. If you’re driving your clients, it’s even more important not to get lost! Look up the route to the property (or properties) a day ahead so that you know where you’re going. This will also help you evaluate whether the route takes you through an area that will be busy during the time you’re travelling, so that you can plan an alternate if you think there will be traffic. It’s important that you demonstrate to your clients that you know the area well – taking a congested route or getting lost will cause you to lose credibility.

Study the home

Be sure you can answer general questions about the home – how big it is, how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has, and any other information you can glean about the property ahead of time. Again, you’re the expert! You don’t have to go into full salesman mode once you’re inside the home – your role is to offer any gentle advice or opinions about the home, and to address any concerns the buyer may have. Encourage your buyers to keep moving if they end up getting stuck on one room or space so that they can see the entire property. In this way, you’re more of a consultant than a sales agent.

Be sure to follow up

Once you’ve finished a showing, schedule a time to speak with your clients in depth about the home or homes they toured. See what they liked or disliked about each house, so that you can make better recommendations in the future. If the buyer isn’t quite ready to make an offer yet, set a calendar reminder to reach back out to them and see if they change their mind. If they liked a house, encourage them – without being pushy – to go ahead and submit an offer quickly. If you follow all these steps and the buyer still isn’t ready to move forward, don’t get discouraged – take the showings as an opportunity to gain a more thorough understanding of what your client is looking for, so that you can make better recommendations in the future. New homes are being added to the market every day, so stay on top of new opportunities!