Purchasers coming and going from a property for sale can be stressful for the home seller, especially if the agent wants to bring purchasers through at awkward times or when the property isn’t at its most neat and clean. How can home sellers strike a reasonable balance between privacy and access?
Everyday life – work, driving kids to school, care of infirm or elderly relatives and other responsibilities don’t go on hold just because vendors have undertaken to market their home. Professional agents understand that vendors are busy and that inspection times need to be negotiated according to vendors’ timetables. But buyers, too, are busy. Many can only inspect when work is finished for the day. Some are on shift work or live out of town. Sellers need to be as flexible as they can manage within the requirements of their lifestyle or risk losing buyers to other more accessible properties. In fact, experience has shown that the most impatient property seekers are often the most impetuous buyers – i.e buyers who buy on a rush of emotion. Some walk through the office door expecting to look at a property NOW and walk out again just as quickly if they can’t – and often they don’t come back at the seller’s convenience, especially if they find something they like soon after.
Some restrictions seem logical and obvious – what’s the point, for example, of a first visit at night when the location, outlook and orientation to natural light will be unable to be assessed? On the other hand, a purchaser coming for a second or third inspection may well want to see if the interior and exterior lighting are adequate, particularly if they have special requirements in that area.
Restricting access to sunny days or moments of serendipitous weather and natural light conditions may seem to sellers to be desirable and may, in fact, be worthwhile in some cases, but the futility of insisting on perfect viewing conditions often becomes apparent when prospective purchasers want to inspect at different times of the day before making a final decision.
No reasonable agent will expect round the clock access to a property listed on their books for sale. Most will be sympathetic and attentive to the needs of their client while bearing in mind that their number one need is to sell the property and that a quick sale is the smallest disruption of all. Vendors with special access requirements should make sure they clarify their needs with their agent, and ask advice on what is a reasonable level of restriction that won’t alienate potential buyers and cost sales.
