I had never seen this before moving to Philadelphia when realtors would sometimes not bother showing up for advertised open houses!
I bumped into a friend with a small child a few days ago actually and she had a similar complaint about their house.

I'm so sorry you are having this problem - real estate in Philly runs differently to anywhere I've lived before and it's one of the reasons I'm taking a break from the business.
Can you talk to your agent about this and ask if they can get the cell number of buyer's agents so he/she can call no shows and ask where the heck they are? It's just so rude and so unprofessional.

Good luck with your sale! Where are you hoping to move?

We had our home on the market for about a year and we had a few no shows, but it probably wasn't anywhere near 25%. We also had a couple people who came at the wrong time, which was really annoying because I work from home and was NOT prepared for the showings!

I would definitely talk to your agent, as the previous poster suggests. Sorry you are having this issue, it must be so frustrating. Good luck to you.

Well, we had one Realtor who has booked twice and no-showed twice, and today he was actually in the building and we actually passed him and said "Aren't you showing XX too?" And he said, "Oh I scheduled it, but no."

No, "sorry for the inconvenience" nothing.

His mother is a TV personality though, and she is notoriously rude off-camera, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Although in his case acknowledging you actually spoke might be polite in his household.

I would be tempted to request that he not be allowed to book anymore but I don't want to get into that.

Have you considered FSBO?

Pal, can you just show the house on Wednesdays and Sundays? That way it takes a bit of the stress out of having to have the house look perfect everyday just in case someone decides to show up. That's what I have always done, contrary to negative feedback (but not negative feedback from potential buyers) and it does work well, I promise. The great thing about a two day a week showing is that you can lump some people in on the same day maybe fifteen minutes apart and create some urgency. I know realtors will tell you that you must always be available but it just isn't so. It may be easier for the realtor if you are always available for their schedule. But, for the buyer sometimes it can create a bit of anticipation that is good and even better if they see others coming and going...some urgency to put in a bid.
The exception would be if your realtor had a client that was only in town for two days or just a weekend.

Allison,

My Realtor is awesome, it's the buyer's Realtors that have been an occasional problem. She took us to see a shell-condition house on Sunday with just a bit of notice, knowing We weren't going to buy it and our potential client was just starting to look. We had to sign a waiver stating we knew we could potentially fall through the floor. She is a very good sport.

I would have 100% said something to the unprofessional you-know-what who calls himself a realtor! If you see him again I think it would be more than reasonable to ask him to be sure to let you know what his intentions are with regards to showing your unit as you would love for him to show it -and it's very disappointing when you put the effort in and he doesn't let you know that he's not coming. I would be nice about it (the first time I spoke to him about it), but I would definitely say SOMETHING.

People can be so thoughtless.

I would not limit your showings if you can possibly help it - it's not about the realtor's convenience - it's about the buyer's convenience. Especially if you have a relatively common type of home - it would be different with a completely unique place, but for most of us in this market, if a buyer can't get in when they want they'll just move on to the next place.

500 days is an awfully long time - what advice is your realtor giving you?

I own another house that rents easily right around the corner. I would rather be living in It, but I don't want to rent out this apartment. I am not under a great deal of pressure to sell.

The reasons that it have not sold are beyond my control: the condo fee and the stairs. Every Realtor except one has said the price for what you are getting is either right on or under market. (which is to offset the condo fees, somewhat)

Every Realtor has said it shows very well.

The problem with lowering the price is that since it is already at a good price, is that it will just attract more people who really can't afford the monthly carrying costs. There will eventually be a buyer who will put enough down that the condo fees won't matter as much. The problem with a few people who fit this category was their age and the stairs. The stairs inside the apartment are a large spiral, (better than a small spiral, but still not good for some people.) Straight stairs are one reason I want to move, since my dad can't visit.

Have you thought of paying 6 months or preferably a year's condo fees for the buyer?
Sellers do that with parking in the city all the time as an incentive to buyers. We will be doing that when we sell our house.

Just a thought.

Our house was on the market for 7 months before it sold, feel your pain with the no-shows. I always had the house perfect, and when I came home to see no business card from the scheduled realtor, I was not happy!
Our realtor was very good and every few weeks we would switch things up a bit. One example - instead of lowering price sometimes we would increase the commission percentage for the buyer's realtor. Then our realtor would send out an update to all local realtors. The though being it might increase the traffic coming through, realtors will want to show it. Doing things like this at least made me feel like we were doing something proactive in a long and difficult process. We had an issue similar to your stairs, house showed great except small backyard. The right buyer will come through that doesn't care about the stairs, it just might take a little longer. Good luck.

When they do show up, how about leaving a nice big note explaining what's covered in the condo fees? Maybe with some bottled water - "Welcome buyer..." Can you spin the third story - better views, less street noise?

About a 20 - 25% no show rate has been our experience on multiple house sales, with another 25%+ spending OTOH, we've been the buyers who cancelled on short notice or zipped in and out in two minutes because our agent failed to take our list of requirements seriously (yes, we found a new agent, but that's happened multiple times.) RE agents justify showing properties that don't meet their buyers' wishes by falling back on the old saw: "buyers are liars." We tried to review the MLS sheets/web listings before touring, but when relocating that hasn't always been feasible. You'd think RE agents would realize they're wasting everyone's time, including their own, but I guess they sell enough properties that aren't what buyers initially said they wanted that it's worth the gamble.

Anyway, I agree with the suggestion to freshen the listing regularly. Maybe your agent needs to reword the info about the condo fees and elevator. Offering a bonus to the selling agent can help; at least it worked for us on one house. Prepaying the buyers' condo fees for 6 - 12 mos. is a good idea, too.

How would you feel about not leaving the condo until the agent and buyers arrive? You could greet them at the door, say you were just on your way out, and leave. I did that when we sold one house, and was able to park on a nearby street from where I could see the agent's car. If they stayed over 5 mins. then odds were good they'd be a while, so I'd go run errands. This reduced my frustration because I wasn't inconvenienced by no-shows.

I've seen a lot of people use tasteful signage to advantage. "Condo fee includes..." As far as the kitchen, leave a clean professional layout drawing on the island showing the main measurements, perhaps titled, "Large "disappearing" kitchen by professional Kitchen Designer." Never leave people to draw their own conclusions.

Your double no-show should not be permitted to book your apartment again. Some realtors used to overbook every viewing and then decide, with the buyers in the car, what they actually feel like seeing. It is extremely unlikely he will ever bring anyone to your place--you're just a back up.

My sister is trying to sell and hasn't mention no-shows as much as last minute requests for a showing. She feels those are always done for the potential buyer's realtor to enhance another house s/he is really pushing to the client or because they're killing time until another scheduled showing.

But she never turns down a chance to show it because you just never know. Once she had to drive around with wet laundry in the car so that she could clear out of the house quickly.

Her feedback is that it shows great BUT and then it's something that can't be changed. They don't like the floor plan. The yard isn't private enough (it's 2 acres & the next door neighbor is on 4 acres). They don't like the first floor master BR.

We only require two hour notice, and since there is often no one there within that two hours, the apartment is essentially kept ready to show at all times. The notice is just to make sure someone won't be there and in the shower or something.

We may start staying until they show up although I prefer anonymity at that part of the process.

Our house was only on the market for about 6 days, so I may as well not respond, but... :) In those 6 days we had one no-show for the scheduled time, who actually just "appeared" about 3.5 hours after the time he had scheduled and was upset that we were in the house.

Are you seeing the no-shows repeatedly from one or two realtors, or randomly?

Reading your note just above, I too would prefer the anonymity and you'll want it considering the sticky situations that could come up if you accidentally said the wrong thing (I have realtor friends and have heard some absolute nightmares over lawsuits resulting from minimal & chance encounters between seller & buyer). Maybe you could request the potential buyers' agent to make a short call once they were en route? You wouldn't have a full two hours' notice, but at least you'd know they were coming.

Yuck - sounds so annoying for you. :(

I sold my last unit in here in 8 days, so I am experiencing the other end of the spectrum.

No....

They all come.

I am up to #73, house listed in October.

I have tennis elbow from vacuuming.

I"m sorry they aren't at your place. It's because they are at mine. All complaining that it's too small.

Seriously. 73.

I'm just staying in a hotel at the new location. I just can't keep cleaning the darn thing.

And yes, I've always sold my homes quickly. Last one was -1 days on the market, when the realtor came over with his contract, he said he had a cash buyer for us. She bought it the next day.

I hate this market.

Oh bee - I am so sorry you're going through this. When I read your post about your kitchen plans on the other forum I just assumed your home had sold.

Pal - I know it's a buyers market but there's no excuse for these realtors. How I wish my adult kids were ready to purchase. These prices and mortgage rates will not last forever.

We sold our house in 2009. We had 42 showings in 45 days, so bee I feel your pain. Our feedback was shows great, it's too small. I don't think we had any no shows, we did have one family just show up randomly on a Saturay morning and insist on seeing the house- it was a mess and I was pissed.

We were lucky to sell in 45 days- I know it's rough out there.