Make your Home Inspections Count
What you need to know before the buyers come
There’s no need to feel overwhelmed and confused about what you should do and what your agent should do when opening your house up for inspections.
Understanding what needs to be done and who needs to do what will help make your experience more successful and so much easier?
Take control and be confident that your agent is working for you and with you to get the best out of the inspection time and is working on building good relationships with the buyers. This is a service that is often misunderstood. You need to offer an experience together with your agent for those that come to view your house and leave a lasting impression. When you have an open for inspection it’s important to have your house ready for display. You should leave 20 minutes before the inspection time to allow your agent to arrive early and set up. They need to put up the open flag/ pointer boards, prepare and display property information including brochures, additional information including the Vendor Statement and agency details. They also need to get ready to welcome any early arrivals that are keen to inspect.
During the open your agent will take down details of buyers and answer any questions they have.
The buyers will make their own way through your property so making sure you have everything prepared for them is important.
Depending on how many come through it’s likely that the agent won’t have a chance to talk to everyone at that time. It’s quite normal that on the Monday and Tuesday call sessions are done to work through who’s IN, who’s a MAYBE and which buyers are OUT and have no interest.
This needs to be monitored closely throughout the campaign and reported in a way that makes sense and is easy to see who your hot buyers are.
These days most agents have access to detailed information on buyers activities and this information can and is used to work out what strategy will get you the best results.
You need to be prepared for buyers that come knocking!
Some people get the time wrong or simply turn up late, or early to inspections.
If you get people that come to your door and want to have a look through outside of the inspection times you’ll need to tell them to contact the agent to arrange the inspection. Do not let them in and do not discuss the price or details of the property.
This could work against you and put you in an awkward situation. An alternative would be to get their details (name and phone number) and suggest the agent will be in touch to organise a suitable time for them to inspect.
An agent will never instruct a buyer to approach you so don’t believe any stories that contradict this.
Your neighbors, friends and family will form their own opinions on your sale as well and this is all very normal. I suggest that if they ask you for updates on interest levels or how much you are hoping for, you simply answer with “as much as we can get” or “as much as the buyers are prepared to pay”
Try not to share too much information about the reported interest levels. In situations like this it’s amazing just how small the world can be and how much information gets out which again, could have a negative affect for you.
When I work with my clients I help them prepare for their open home inspections so they know exactly what to expect.
Hope this gives you the best opportunity to make a positive impression and get more IN’s then OUT’s