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The Role of Access in Selling Your House
Once you’ve made the decision to sell your house and have hired a real estate agent to help, they’ll ask how much access to your home you want to give potential buyers. Your answer matters more now than it did in recent years. Here’s why.
At the height of the buying frenzy seen during the pandemic, there was a rise in the number of homebuyers who put offers on houses sight unseen. We saw a lot of that here in the Asheville area. That happened for three reasons:
Extremely low housing inventory
A lot of competition from other buyers wanting to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates
And general wariness of in-person home tours during a pandemic
Today, the market’s changing, and buyers can usually be more selective and take more time to explore their options.
So, in order to show your house and sell it efficiently, you’ll want to provide buyers with as much access as you can. Before letting your agent know what works for you, consider these five levels of access you can provide. They’re ordered from most convenient for a buyer to least convenient. Remember, your agent will be better able to sell your house if you provide as much access to buyers as possible.
Lockbox on the Door – This allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing or at their convenience.
Providing a Key to the Home – This would require an agent to stop by an office to pick up the key, which is still pretty convenient for a buyer.
Open Access with a Phone Call – This means you allow a showing with just a phone call’s notice.
By Appointment Only – For example, you might want your agent to set up a showing at a particular time and give you advance notice. That way you can prepare the house and be sure you have somewhere else you can go in the meantime.
Limited Access – This might mean you’re only willing to have your house available on certain days or at certain times of day. In general, this is the most difficult and least flexible way to show your house to potential buyers.
Having said that, showings also need to work with your schedule as much as possible.
For instance, you can choose not to show your home on certain days or for certain hours. While this practice is permissible, it is not always favorable. This is especially true if buyers are viewing multiple homes in a day or if they are only in town for a certain period of time. It's best to be as accommodating as possible for happy campers (aka buyers) and good rapport up front.
As today’s housing market changes, be sure to give buyers as much access as you can to your house when you sell, and make sure to communicate your wishes clearly to your agent. With the right communication, preparation and access to your home, we can get it sold!
Note: I cover several towns and counties, and even though I grew up in North Asheville, my heart belongs to South Asheville, Mills River and Arden. If you need a Realtor in the area (buying or selling), give me a call!