Nothing quite like a cynical post to start off the week!

This is a post for both the sellers and the listing agents, which I hope does not fall on deaf ears.

No matter how obvious, and how logical this is, we still see all kinds of restrictions on both access to, and showings of properties for sale in this market, and I can’t imagine how or why a seller or agent would allow this to happen in such a red-hot market.

How can you expect to get top-dollar for a property when it’s difficult for that property to be seen?

Maybe I’m a bit salty right now.

Actually, not maybe.  And not a bit…

I just watched my favourite golfer, Jordan Spieth, throw away a Masters championship that was all but his.

I know, I know.  He had nine holes to play.

But he was up FIVE strokes, and then went bogey on the 10th, bogey on the 11th, and an unfathomable quadruple-bogey on the 12th hole.

For those of you that don’t watch golf, let me find an analogy.

Maybe swimming?

So imagine Michael Phelps in the Olympics, splashing down the lane in the 200-metre back-stroke, when suddenly he gets out of the pool, eats a hot-dog, and then gets back in and finishes in 2nd place.

That is tantamount to Jordan Spieth’s quadruple-bogey with seven holes to play in the fourth round of the Masters.

Dammit.

Okay, let’s move on…

Are you familiar with the term “shelf space” as it pertains to a retail outlet?

Whether you’re talking about shirts on a rack in The Bay, or cereal on the shelf in Loblaws, retailers will pay more for better space on the shelf, as it means their items get seen by more people.

I’m sure there’s a whole industry of “spacing experts” that dedicate their lives to this.  I’m sure there’s a formula to what makes the best space on the shelf.  But I’m going to simply assume that “eye-level” is the best space, and that the lowest shelf is better than the highest shelf, for the simple reason that it’s easier to access.

A product has to be accessible in order for it to be sold.

A buyer can’t purchase what he or she can’t see, or can’t easily access.

If you were a green-bean manufacturer, surely you’d recognize that having your cans at eye-level on a shelf in the canned-food section is better than, say, having them in a display in the employee washroom.

Silly example?  Yes.

But when it comes to the accessibility of some properties for sale in Toronto’s real estate market, you could draw a parallel.

What’s easier to show – the condo with the key in the lockbox in the stairwell next to the unit, or the condo with the key at the brokerage twelve blocks away?

It’s like having your green-beans on display in the employee washroom.  It really is.

Every day, I’m shocked and amazed at how sellers, and/or listing agents, will restrict viewings on properties, when it’s just common sense to allow anybody and everybody, at any time, to see the property.

I tell my sellers, “Any time you say ‘no’ to a viewing, you’re saying ‘go away’ to a potential buyer.”

There are all kinds of retorts.

“If they’re interested, they’ll come back.”

“If they can be here for 6pm, they can be here for 7:15pm.”

But you have to remember, as a seller, that getting top dollar is a function of supply and demand, and part of that “supply” means “supplying” your property to the buyer-pool.

If you don’t supply them with your property, and access to it, then you’re missing out on half the equation.

You can’t simply assume that every buyer out there is in love with your property and that “they’ll come back.”

Many times, an agent is showing six properties, and if you make it hard to access your property, the agent or the buyer will just say “forget it.”

There are a lot of ways in which viewings of properties for sale are restricted, but I think they fall into four categories: restrictions because of tenants, restrictions because of lockbox issues, restrictions because of the seller, and restrictions because of the listing agent.

Tenants

1) 24 Hours Notice.

I understand that the Landlord & Tenant Act insists tenants are given 24 hours’ notice for all viewings.

But I also understand the concept of “greasing the wheel.”

If you’re a listing agent, or a seller, why wouldn’t you try to get on the tenant’s good side?  Ask them nicely, buy them dinner, or give them money – see if you can get them to allow viewings without 24 hours’ notice, some, or all of the time.

For example, if the tenant works from 9-5 like most of the world, maybe he or she will say “okay” to same-day bookings, provided it’s during working hours.

Every day in this city, another property gets a “no showing” because of the tenant’s 24-hour’s n

2) Tenants Not Allowing Showings

Pick your tenants wisely, investors!

You might think that so long as a tenant can provide first-and-last month’s rent, they’re a “good tenant.”

But the time will come when they’re leaving, and you need access to the property to show it to other prospective tenants.

And I can’t tell you how many tenants simply say “no showings this weekend” to the listing brokerage, and the listing agent, and seller, allow it to happen.

You’ve got to bring this up in advance with your tenants.  Bring it up before the property goes to market, but bring it up when they sign the lease in the first place!  Make sure they know that signing a lease means allowing showings a year, or two years down the road.

And whatever you do, don’t commit to “no showings on weekends!”  It’s one thing for a salty tenant to call the listing brokerage and say, “I don’t want ANY showings this weekend,” but it’s another thing for a listing agent to allow this in advance of the listing!  I’ve seen listings that hit MLS with, “No Showings On Sat/Sun, Any Time” in the brokerage remarks.

How or why would a seller and listing agent stand for this?

You’re just asking to get less money for your property!

Lockboxes

This is a big one, folks.

And while it doesn’t really affect you, the buyer, I’m sure you’ve been out there with your agent, playing “lockbox hide-and-seek.”

There are a few issues here:

1) Lockboxes Off-Site.

Putting the lockbox in the stairwell next to the unit is the easiest way to allow for access – it’s even better than leaving the key at concierge.

But when we aren’t allowed to put a lockbox in the stairwell, or leave a key with concierge, then we have to get creative and leave the lockbox somewhere outside.

For the love of God, fellow Realtors, find a way to do this efficiently.

Put the lockbox somewhere very, very close to the front door of the building, and make it easy to find.

DO NOT put the lockbox on a median in-between a six-lane highway:

That’s a colleague of mine trying to get a key out of a lockbox without getting killed by an 18-wheeler.

And that pole, on that median, in between six lanes of traffic is about a half-KM from the building.

This is a surefire way to ensure agents don’t show your property.

2) Lockboxes At The Brokerage

I’ve never understood this.

An agent lists a property for sale, and insists that you pick up the key at their brokerage.

If you’re showing at 75 Portland Street, and the key is at Private Service Realty (PSR) that’s located in the base of that building, then fine.

But anything else, in my opinion, is cause for concern.

Last week, I went to show a property on McCaul.  The key was at a brokerage (not even the listing brokerage, which was weird…) located four blocks away, in a rinky-dink little chop-shop of a brokerage that had no street-level signage, save for an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper taped to the inside of a very dirty door.

When you leave keys at the brokerage, you’re just asking buyer-agents to skip your property.

I was at McCaul to show McCaul, and only McCaul.  So I was going to get that key.

But when an agent is showing seven properties to a buyer on Saturday, and six of the properties have a key in the stairwell, and one of the properties has a key at a brokerage on a busy street five blocks away, guess which one gets “cut” in the interest of time?

3 Hard-To-Identify Lockboxes

Agents – how frustrated are you when you get “Lockbox on Bar, Code 1978” and then you arrive to find this:

HAVE FUN!

You need an identifier on your lockbox, or you run the risk that the buyer-agent, who could be showing multple units, simply says, “Three units is just as good as four,” and quits the search after not finding your lockbox.

I once saw a lockbox with a helium-balloon tied to it.  That was easy to find!

Sellers

There’s no excuse for a seller to restrict showings.

Absolutely, none.

If the tenants are restricting showings, fine.

If your moron agent is restricting showings, fine.

But if you, the seller, the person who wants the most money possible for his or her unit, is restricting showings, they deserve to get less than fair market value for your home.

Last week, I called to book a showing on a Mimico townhouse, and I was told, “No showings after 4:30pm on weeknights.”

I was shocked to see “owner” under the “occupancy” section of the MLS listing.

I called the listing agent and feigned, “How long have the tenants been there?”  He told me that the property wasn’t tenanted, but was actually owner-occupied.

I said, “Oh, well there must be some mistake.  I was told there were no showings after 4:30pm, and no seller in their right mind would restrict showings.”

He told me that the seller didn’t want to be “bothered” after work, and that he preferred showings during the day.

I asked him if he preferred 85% of fair market value.

Then came the bombshell – when he said, “Hey, it’s tough you know?  Especially when you’re dealing with family.”

Family?  Yes, the seller was his brother.

I told him, “That makes it MUCH easier!  Tell your idiot brother that 90% of weekday property viewings are after 4:30pm!  You know, like, when people aren’t at work?”

Excuse my sarcasm, but honestly, what is a seller like this thinking?

What is any seller thinking when they refuse any showing?

Every showing you refuse is one more buyer who won’t be buying your property.

Agents

1) No-Double Bookings

This drives me insane.

Some listing agents will refuse to “double-book” viewings, meaning that once an agent has booked for 5:00pm on Tuesday, no other agent can book for 5:00pm on Tuesday.

There’s nothing wrong with having John from Re/Max and Rebecca from Royal Lepage both show the property at 4:30pm on Friday.

In fact, in a red-hot market like this one, you can almost guarantee that there will be double-bookings at 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm, every weeknight after the property is listed.

I’ve been at houses on weeknights where it’s a de-facto “open house,” since so many agents have appointments, that the door opens and closes every few minutes.

And amazingly, some agents will allow hour-long viewings, with no double bookings.

I called to book an appointment on a listing last week for 2pm on a Thursday, and I was told, “No double-bookings, try later.”  Well wouldn’t you just know that 3pm was taken as was 4pm.  The receptionist told me, “You can book for 5pm if you’d like.”

No thanks.  I was going to show it at 2pm, but now I’m not.  I sure hope you get action on offer night.

2) Listing Agent Must Attend Viewing

I get it.  If the house is over $10,000,000, that is…

But if the house isn’t owned by somebody with an over-valued sense of self-importance, and/or somebody who is afraid of people stealing their Faberge eggs, then why does the listing agent have to be at viewings?

Agents – you can’t allow the seller of your $699,000 condo to insist that you attend all showings.  It’s so unnecessary, and if you take the listing, with this restriction in place, then you’re doing the seller a serious disservice.

This is the same issue as all of the above: any restriction on showings means less showings.  And if the listing agent must be present, then the listing agent must give up his or her life to ensure he or she can be available when any of the 50,000 GTA Realtors wants to take a look.

I met a really nice couple a few years back who lived on the Mimico waterfront, and they told me that if they listed the condo with me, they wanted me to be present for every showing.  They wanted me to show the amenities, give a sales pitch, and hold the hand of the buyers.

I told them that not only would buyers be less comfortable with me in the unit, and not only would they want to leave sooner if I were giving them a sales pitch, but it would be impossible for me to attend every viewing because they lived off the busiest highway in Toronto, and I’d basically have to live in their condo from 4-8pm every day, and on weekends.

I was an awful idea, and completely unnecessary.  Alas, I did not list that condo.

–

There’s a lot at stake when listing your property for sale.

Done correctly, versus a terrible job overall, you could see a 20% difference in sale price – and we see this every day when properties get astronomical numbers, or when properties sit on the market for a bevy of reasons.

Restricting showings is a sure-fire way to get less for your property.

Real estate is often a numbers game.  And you want as many people to see a property as possible…