Have you ever heard a seller describe the process of selling his or her property as convenient?  Probably not.

As a Realtor, my job is to minimize the amount of inconvenience that my seller-clients will experience during the course of the listing.

But there a lot of sellers out there who think that everything is inconvenient to them…

Here’s a page right out of my “Seller Home Information Guide,” aka my listing package:

My Objective:

To Sell Your Home…

• At the maximum dollars obtainable
• In the shortest period of time
• with the least inconvenience to you

That’s about as simple as I can explain it.  Those are the most basic three objectives I have as a Realtor, and they all tie in together.

But it’s the third point that I want to draw attention to because while all three points can be hotly debated as to their definition (ie. what is truly ‘obtainable’ and what would you consider a ‘short’ period of time), it’s the idea of inconvenience that I want to discuss.

The first thing I tell prospective sellers when I meet with them is this: “There is no way to sell your home without some level of inconvenience.  It’s not a fun process, and it’s not an easy process.  At times you may feel violated or like your privacy has been invaded.”

It’s all true.

People will be trekking through your home, day and night.  Sometimes you’ll be home, but most of the time you won’t.  Sometimes your listing agent will be present (such as during an open house), and other times he won’t (during showings with cooperating brokers).

It’s hard not to feel like your privacy has been invaded.

But when does the process become inconvenient?

In my opinion, the entire process is inconvenient!  How could it not be?

But every seller has a different view of inconvenience, and I think it falls back on the listing agent to prepare those sellers in the first place.

Here’s a classic example…

Last weekend, I was showing condos down in the St. Lawrence Market area.

I booked three showings at Vu Condos, and figured we’d see those before heading over to King George Square, Rezen, and King’s Court.

Only two of appointments at Vu Condos were confirmed, and I received a non-confirmation for the third.  The message I received:

“NON CONF: 112 George St Unit XX Saturday 2PM – Inconvenient for Vendor Pls Rebook After 5PM As Vendor Has Guests”

There are so many things wrong with this that I barely know where to start, but again, I think it falls back on the listing agent for not preparing these sellers in the first place!

1) How is 2PM on a Saturday inconvenient?  It’s not, it never has been, it never will be, and it never should be!  Saturday and Sunday are open season for showings as far as I’m concerned. 

I tell my sellers to leave at 11AM and come back after 7PM.  Just assume they’ll have showings all day, whether or not there is an open house.

When do these sellers at Vu think most people have time to look at condos?  Buyers work 9-5, M-F, and thus they do their viewings on weekends!

2) Why does the vendor have guests?  Why did the vendor invite people over at 2PM on a Saturday when the vendor’s property is for sale?

Those guests should be hosting instead!  Surely their property isn’t for sale, and is available for social gatherings!

3) “Please Re-Book After 5PM.”  This vendor doesn’t understand the way things work. 

First of all, most showings are clustered together in a two-hour window, ie. I was showing seven condos in four buildings, all within a few blocks of eachother.  We started at 2PM, and we were done at 3:45PM.  By 5PM, I was already with another client, and my buyer was at the Eaton Centre shopping for shoes.

Second of all, the seller should not have the luxury of dictating the schedule of other people’s lives.  “Come back later, say around 5PM.”  If the vendor truly wants to sell his property, he would understand that a showing is important, and letting one potential buyer walk away means potentially letting a sale walk with it.

Again, this all falls back on the listing agent, and I might go as far as to call the listing agent and ask, “Why is your seller having tea at high-noon when I’m trying to get in to show the property?”

Some agents don’t understand, and they say things like, “Well, you could come back tomorrow!”

Question: DO YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY, or not?

If the answer is ‘yes,’ then you should do whatever it takes, within reason.

And I’m sorry, but having guests at 2PM on a Saturday during the course of your listing is not within reason.

There is simply no way that a 2PM showing can be considered inconvenient.

What is inconvenient?

Inconvenient is an 8:15PM showing on a Tuesday night when the MLS listing clearly reads, “Please try to limit showings to 7:30PM on weekdays as three-month-old baby sleeps at night.”

Inconvenient is having a buyer trek through the property when you’re having a water birth.

The inflatable pool is in the middle of the living room, and the hose is out.

The “how to” manual with Tom Cruise’s face on it is sitting right next to the U.F.O. magazines, and the deep breathing begins.

Then just as the placenta makes its first appearance, in walks Dick & Jane to view your beautiful home.

That is inconvenient.

An afternoon showing on a Saturday is not.

When I go in for a listing presentation, I tell my prospective sellers, “There is a way to sell your property – only one way as far as I’m concerned, and it involves the following steps.”  I then outline everything that I do, as their agent, and everything that they need to do, as my clients.  It is not a pick-and-choose process where you take some of my suggestions and not others.  If you choose to work with me, it’s because you value my experience, my methods, and my results.

If you decide to work with a Realtor who sees nothing wrong with limiting showings on weekends, and allowing you to cancel appointments at your convenience, then that’s your prerogative.

But the seller who limits showings to “Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12PM – 5PM” is no different than the seller who has seven cats, fourteen-hundred sweaters, and every newspaper and magazine since 1960, then refuses to “lift a finger” in order to sell her house.

There are certain things you have to do in order to sell your property.

Installing that revolving door and allowing showings any time before, say, 8PM is one of those necessary items on the agenda.

If you don’t, then you have nobody to blame when your property doesn’t sell.

If Best Buy was closed all the time, how could they complain about losing sales to Future Shop?