The Showing Agent
Much has been written about preparing a house for listing, things we do as homeowners and agents to make the best possible first impression. According to Consumer Reports cleaning and decluttering alone can increase the asking price by 3-5%. Some clients won’t lift a finger, while others care about every detail of the presentation. Unfortunately, far less has been written on what happens next: the correct way to show a house. I could not find any comprehensive scientific studies, no definitive guide. I was surprised when, at a $4 million listing last week the agent opened the door and said, “I’ll just disappear. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Is it possible that 1.5 million agents nationwide are “winging” it, showing houses based on experience and instinct, and in this case not at all? After all, showing is not something agents are trained on, not something found on the real estate licensing exam, but it can have an enormous impact on whether a deal comes together. In addition to putting your “best foot forward” it helps set seller (and buyer) expectations up-front. Author’s note: Decades ago, before becoming a Realtor, I worked for a New Canaan company King-Casey that studied buyer behavior in retail environments. We knew exactly how much time was needed to make a positive first impression, what people saw, how fast they moved, how much information they wanted and could absorb. Experts know how many seconds we spend in the drive-thru, and how to direct our attention to the high-margin products. We should study house-showing with the same science based on data, certainly for the benefit of agents who want to be effective but also for the clients who demand a professional process and a consistent result. I’ll start by posing:
- Does the house need to be shown? Yes, a house is a complicated product. Even in front of the most experienced buyer we know there are many aspects of the house that cannot be observed and are not found on the listing sheet. Last week I was thankful for extra time to brush up on the 3-page improvement list. I was quizzed on every bit of it. Keeping in mind every showing is a performance we must adapt in the moment. Tailor the showing to the level of interest, energy and experience of each prospective buyer.
- What is the purpose of showing the house? Besides providing security and essential feedback to the seller, the listing agent should be using what they learn from the showing to improve the presentation for the next showing. When we ask the seller to clean up the laundry, empty the dirty dishes and leave with the dog there is an implicit contract that as a showing agent I am going to be there to educate, to observe, to gather feedback, and frankly to sell (keeping in mind that nobody likes to “be sold”)
Listing sheets? Ha. Nobody reads anymore. We remember 20% of what we read, but 80% of what we see and 10% of what we hear. Listing agents show a house to call attention to the things we want them to remember. That’s another reason why listing descriptions are being eclipsed by tours on social media as the newest way telling the story of a property. They are better remembered.
- Why pre-qualify the buyer? To tailor the presentation. We do this so time is not wasted. Are they local? What is their timeframe? Do they want a project? Are they at the beginning of the journey? Have they owned a similar home? Knowing something about the buyer helps make the presentation more specific and relevant to them. To meet them where they are, (to employ tactical empathy) we need to know where that is.
- Are we describing, or provoking an emotional response? The best agents are storytellers and help the prospect imagine living in the home. A good storyteller watches body language, adjusts as the situation changes. Some couples/families split up; others stick together. Some guests are silent; others talk to each other or engage with questions. Some move purposefully, quickly, while others wander. Sometimes we direct their attention to what is worth remembering, while other times its more important to observe, or disappear, in silence.
- Why always start at the front door? It is the positive first impression. And it is consistency: starting at the front door makes the tour less confusing. While in our daily lives we might enter the house through a side door into the kitchen, we orient new visitors properly. House design conventions were developed over many centuries, organized to begin at the front where most or of the formal rooms are seen and accessed. It is only recently that the kitchen has become the functional heart of so many homes, and should be shown at the end, the grand-finale of the first floor.
- Start at the primary bedroom and number each as you move: bedroom one with ensuite bath, bedrooms two and three share the hall bath. I have found it is easy to lose track of how many bedrooms and baths unless I do this out loud. I do it even when I am alone, saying each room out loud so that I will remember where I have been.
- Why do we turn on the lights? It takes human eyes a long time to adjust to interior light when first coming inside. I learned the importance of strong lighting studying retail environments and just like the greeter at Walmart, it is one of the reasons we often stop in the front foyer. We need about 30 seconds for our eyes to adjust and to get oriented. Put all the lights on. Besides causing the house to look larger and more inviting, lights everywhere makes the house feel lived-in. Even if I prefer the mood in my own house to be lit with 40-watt bulbs, we light our listings with 100-watts throughout. Oh, and please don’t mix warm white and bright white light. Stick with one light color.
- Utilize all the senses. Sound? if there’s a movie theater then use it! Let them imagine what its like to live in this house, so much life and movement. A whole-house sound system? Don’t just tell us, show us how it works. (Just do it softly.) How does the house smell? Smell is often underestimated. Citrusy scents make buyers think a home’s worth more. In a 2016 experiment by realtor.com.au we learned citrus can add $100,000 of perceived value to a home. Readers of this column know baking cookies is another way to make a house smell good, but it is not the only way. Fresh flowers can make a difference. Bad smells? De-ionizing machines work wonders on cigarette and animal smells. Any stale smell or dusty musty from lack of air movement or dehumidification is going to be a problem. When the prospect asks, “How long has it been since someone lived here?” then we have failed.
When I entered this business agents relied on a black and white book of listings and familiarized themselves with every house during the weekly tours in case a buyer might call. We had to know the inventory. There was no internet. Now, with the explosion of information online it would be fair to ask what is the role of the listing agent in 2023? Is it to gather the information and put it online? Some agents seem to think so, taking a pause between placing the lockbox on the front door and the period of negotiation that follows. Maybe these thoughts on the role of the “showing agent” are quaint, from a time before the showing could be done through video, professionally edited and set to music. As an agent who loves making videos, they do have their place, but they will never take the place of a great showing agent.
Check out John Engel’s Podcast, Boroughs & Burbs, the National Real Estate Conversation here.
