Perhaps when the last version of the Residential Tenancies Act came to pass in 2007, the folks who invented the “Post-It Note” began an internal discussion about what constitutes “written notice.”

Once upon a time, “written notice” actually meant written, like, by hand.

And once upon a time, in order to give your tenant “written notice,” you actually had to send them a letter, or as many did, stick a note to their front door!

Whether or not an email constitutes “written notice” will probably vary from case to case, but there is an understanding that as far as notice to a tenant goes, from a landlord, an email is sufficient.

If a tenant wanted to make things very difficult, however, that tenant could inform the landlord that they want true written notice, in the form of a letter, for every communication.  This is, for many landlords, a worst-case scenario with a “problem” tenant, but I’ve seen it happen.  I’ve seen tenants and landlords do battle for various reasons, which results in a tenant saying that he or she wants all communication to be in writing.  No phone, no email – in writing, as is the tenant’s right under the Residential Tenancies Act.

In the case of a landlord who has his or her property on the market, this can be absolutely disastrous.

I have two rental listings at the moment; one is vacant, the other is tenanted.  Showings on the vacant unit are a breeze.  Showings on the tenanted unit are also a breeze, since the tenant is a really nice guy, who gave notice to the landlord (ie. it’s his decision to leave, so no issues with the landlord), and who is out of town quite often.

More often than not, tenants are very accommodating with showings, so long as they’re given their legally-mandated 24 hours’ notice, and the showing agents are on time, and respectful.

But once in a while, right or wrong, you do get that “problem” tenant, and a colleague of mine recently told me a story about one.  This tenant was living in a unit that was up for sale, and the tenant demanded that the landlord provide true written notice for each and every showing.

The tenant required that the written notice be received too, which meant that the landlord had to go over to the unit every night and provide a written notice of the showing request, usually 36 hours in advance, and physically hand it to the tenant.

This made the property near impossible to sell, because showings were so hard to book.

Connect the dots here: To sell a property, you need an offer.  To get an offer, you need an interested buyer.  To get an interested buyer, you need a viewing.

Without viewings, you have no chance at obtaining an offer.

Like I said: worst-case scenario.

Now the reason that I’m explaining this is simple: in lieu of the scenario above, there is absolutely, positively, zero reason to have restrictions on showings.

Well, almost zero.

I went to show a property north of the city on Sunday, and my showing request was denied.  I called the listing agent and said, “What gives?  I can’t show the property at 2:30pm on a Sunday afternoon?  We’re talking two days after the property hits the market?”

The agent responded, “I know, I know.  Really bad timing here, and I wish I could get you in!  But it’s their son’s first communion, and they’ve got like forty people over!”

Okay then!

So when I said, “Absolutely, positively zero reasons to have restrictions on showings,” maybe I was off by one or two cases.

But at the risk of sounding insensitive, I’ll add this: why in the world would you put your house on the market two days before you’re going to have forty people into your living room all day?

Yes, I know, it’s like I believe real estate comes before everything else.

But what can I say?  I only know one way to sell real estate, and that’s the right way.

When I list a property for sale, I read my clients the riot act with respect to showings.

I’ll tell them that there is zero reason for them to ever turn down a showing request, unless they decide that day that they do not want top dollar for their home.

Now keep in mind, most of my clients are astute.  They’re repeat clients, blog readers, referrals from both, etc.  Most of them already know this.

But just to hammer home the point, I explain it to them again.

And then for good measure, I always ask, “Do you need to be home for the next ten days?”

A big ask, I know.

But more than half of all my sellers end up moving out for the week their home.

Just for fun, let me go back and look at my last 15 listings…

By the numbers:

1 – Vacation Property (Vacant)
3 – Vacant
3 – Lived In The Unit During The Listing
8 – Moved Out

Hmm, very interesting.  I’ve actually never looked at this before!

Of the eight sellers who moved out:

1 – Lived With A Friend
1 – Stayed At Another Property
1 – AirBnB
5 – Lived With Parents

This is the lengths that people will go to in order to get maximum exposure for their properties.

And this is both a testament to access, in a sense that we aren’t just having zero restrictions on showings, but rather there’s nobody actually living in the unit, but also condition of the property, in a sense that the bed will never need to be made, the kitchen sink will never need to be cleaned, the floors won’t need to be swept, etc.

The incredible thing is – I’d say most of those sellers who moved out of the unit volunteered to do so before I even asked them!  Again, these are some astute sellers, many of whom knew I was going to ask.  But a lot of sellers in this market just “get it.”  And of the clients I had that did stay home, they all knew the drill; stay out from 9am to 9pm, and when you leave the property, it has to show exactly like it does in the photos.

And then, there are other ways of selling your home…

Last week, I wanted to show a property in the west end, and this isn’t west as in Milton; I’m talking east of Jane.

I made my appointment for Wednesday night on Wednesday morning, and my showing was refused.

This property, FYI, is under-priced with an offer date, meaning they need showings!

I called the agent, and he said, “The seller needs 12 hours notice.”

I figured this could be a sensitive situation, but I also really needed an answer, so I asked, “Oh, I see.  Is the seller elderly?  Or is there somebody in the house that’s having trouble?  If that’s the case, hey, I totally understand.”

The agent said, “No, no, nothing like that.  She’s just a bit old school, you know?  She likes to have her day planned out, calendar set, you know?”

I didn’t know, so I pressed.

“Well, she does want to sell, right?” I asked, not trying to be snide, but rather asking in the form of a real question.

“Yeah, she does,” he said, “Why?  You can’t go back tomorrow, or the next day?  Just give her some notice, that’s all,” he replied, taking a bit more of a defensive tone, and ultimately leading me to believe that he okay’d this.

He was right, in a way.  This is Toronto, and demand is greater than supply.  The seller holds the cards, so who are we to complain?  If we don’t like it, we can screw off.  Somebody will buy this house, and the seller doesn’t care if it’s us.

But that’s the problem, since my clients did screw off.  They’re both professionals in their late-20’s, working excessive hours, and as a result, they can run hot and cold.  Long day at work, get home at 1:00am, and you might be in a different mood and mindset than you were at 9:30am that day.

My clients passed on this property, and it’s just as much their loss as it is the sellers.  I told them as much, and they know.  They just don’t care, as they told me.

But I can’t help but think that if we passed on seeing this house, there must be others.  And if the seller turned down our showing request, surely there were other times or circumstances that weren’t to her liking.  When offer day comes, she will sell her house.  But if she gets 2 offers, she might have had 4 if she’d given unfettered access to her home.  If she gets 9 offers, she’ll never know if she could have had 10, 11, or 12.

I understand that one’s house is their home, and that buyers need to respect that.  I’ll be the first person to repeat this, especially when random members of the public think it’s their right to attend an open house, rather than a privilege, and have no problem taking smack about the home with others in ear-shot, or letting their kids play with the owner’s kids’ toys, etc.

However, I also advise my clients that as soon as your property is listed for sale, it’s no longer your “home,” but rather now it’s your “asset.”  This is especially true for people who have bought a new home, and then go to sell their existing home.  You know you are moving, so recognize that this isn’t your home any longer; it’s merely your investment vehicle, and an asset.  As such, you should do anything in your power to increase the value of your investment, and showcase your asset to the largest number of people possible.

Last weekend, I was north of the city once more, in an area that is definitely a buyer’s market.

It’s very common for houses to take 60-90 days to sell, if they sell.

It’s very common to see multiple price reductions.

And shocking as it may seem, it’s very common for sellers to simply say, “No showings this weekend.”

Imagine that.

A seller with his or her house on the market who presumably wants to sell, tells his or her agent, “No showings this weekend” with the same laissez-faire demeanour as they would tell the waiter “No freshly-ground pepper, thanks.”

It makes absolutely zero sense to me, and if I were the listing agent, I wouldn’t put up with it.

I’ll give the tough love when needed.  I don’t beat around the bush.  If that were my listing, I’d tell the sellers, “You just reduced the chances of selling your home by 15%, and reduced the expected value of the sale by ten thousand dollars.  Why?  So you can sit at home and ‘relax?’  Does that make sense to you?”

Of course, I rarely have these conversations.  Maybe I’m lucky that way.

But Good Lord, there are so many sellers in the GTA who have no problem waving their hand at weekend showings, or cutting off showings at 6:30pm as though the whole world finishes work when the whistle blows at 5pm, or demanding “ample notice” when their definition of “ample” is more like “unnecessary.”

If you’re a prospective seller, take these words to heart.

A job worth doing, is worth doing well.  And right.