groomingal,

I'm sorry you're having a tough time with having your home on the market for sale. You didn't need to note that it was the first home you'd sold - your post had already indicated that.

Yep, selling a house you're living in is disruptive. So, I can acknowledge & empthasize with your frustration.

That said though, if you want to sell your home you're going to have to adjust your mindset a bit. You're seeing the showings as inconveniences - are you aware of how many people there are right now that would be doing the 'happy dance' just to receive a phone call that somebody WANTED to see their home? IMO, asking for 24 hours notice for a showing is going to kill your chances for selling that house. Many buyers don't have the luxury of scheduling viewing houses they're interested in that far in advance. I know we wouldn't.

Suggestions:

1.) Keep a bag packed for the kids & already loaded in your van;
2.) Limit the children's toys/mess while you're home so there's little to pick-up when you get a showing request;
3.) Since it's summer - that's a big help to you. Play outside with the kids to help keep the house clean/tidy/orderly.
4.) After the kids are in bed at night - do a quick vac & clean the bathrooms so any spur-of-the-moment clean-up will be minimal;
5.) Keep repeating to your reflection in the mirror at night, "This too shall pass & I'll be glad we sold the house."

The only other alternative is to move out before you put your home on the market. Some people are able to accomplish that & many are not. Obviously, showings are less disruptive if you're not living there.

One hour's notice for a showing should be agreeable to virtually any potential buyer. Much more than that & you're risking losing selling opportunities, IMO.

Good luck &
Wishing you fair winds & safe harbor.

Tricia

24 hour notice would be nice, we requested this a few times when selling a home but eventually gave up on it when we'd get calls from the drive way saying they wanted to show the house. If you want to sell your house, it has to be available for showing when buyers want to see it. It's a huge inconvenience, but that's what goes into selling a home. As a mom to 4, with a hubby who often relocated to his new job ahead of us, I feel for you. I've been known to shove the dinner and dishes in the oven when a realtor would call from the driveway.

Keep your house neat and tidy, so that with 10 minutes notice you can take a laundry basket and go room to room picking up any stray toys etc. Pack the laundry basket and the dogs in the car and drive to the end of the street etc. Keep snacks and toys in the van to keep the kids happy and just hope that the home doesn't stay on the market long.

I know it's a hassle and interferes with children's nap times, but if you want to sell your home while living there you have to do what you have to do.

I asked for one hours notice and settled for less- I was motivated.

I wanted nothing and no one to stand in the way of someone interested in my home, and most especially not me. I got up early every morning to tidy things up so I had as little as possible to have to do at the last minute. Put out the flowers, hide the litter boxes, load up the cats and dogs, turn on the lights and spray a bit of air freshener. It was a giant PIA but it did the trick.

I'm asking for an hour, although I thought it was 2 (I found out the other day). I had the option to change it but said no. Not sure if I could do 30 minutes notice on a weekend unless everyone is helping pick up if there is a mess.

What I am now doing since Saturday when we were working inside & out:

The table has the good cloth under the vinyl one. I keep the place settings close by. All rooms are now kept picked up. With my teen daughter, I am leaving 1 dresser drawer open so that any messes can be chucked into it really quick.

I start my day at 7 am - showings can start at 10, this gives me 3 hours to clean up from the night before, make beds and do what ever else needs to be done.

School will be out in 2 weeks. I don't doubt it will be rough with my 14 year old here but in addition to the dresser drawer, I will have a laundry basket for her (have to get it from the attic) so that any makeup or the million clothes changes she will do can get shoved in there.

You don't say how young the kids are but for toys, think about getting a rubbermade covered bin to store what ever they play with. They can have it down & open during the day, if someone comes, throw stuff back into it and shove in the closet on the shelf. You can also get a colored non covered square from Walmart to do the same thing with.

What is your husband doing if someone calls to come by on short notice - is he staying in the house sleeping or will he get up & leave with you?

Groomingal I agree it can be fustrating! As a seller I did the laudry basket trick as mentioned above many times! :) When I got the "call" I would have the kids & dog get into the car (they where old enough to do it themselves) then run like a mad woman through the house like I was on a marathon with my laudry basket picking up & last minute touch ups. It was easier without kids/dog under foot. The worst was when you realized they never showed! Arrg!

But, as a now buyer, when I want to see a home...I want to see it! :) To encourage you a little: We were ready to make an offer on a home #1 several days ago & just before we made it, driving through the neighborhood another home came on the market & we decided to see it. Our realtor got us in within the hour. I could tell that the homeowner probably wasn't ready---but, she let us in anyways---yes, it was a bit messy (but, clean) normal last minute stuff sitting around. We could see past all that, & decided to make an offer on that house #2...so just waiting to see if it was accepted. I guess what I'm saying is if the homeowner had refused we probably would of just went ahead with the offer on home#1.

I have a diaper bag ready at all times and an extra sippy cup ready. DD is almost 2 and Ds is 7. DS is great about helping pick up and tidy, DD is great about being messy.
Prime example i'm in the middle of making a cake, realtor calls wants to send an agent in 45 minutes. I asked him for an hour and he would call me back to let me know. Meantime I run upstairs to get DD up from nap and she was already up, had her diaper off and thrown poo against a wall, smooshed it in her bed, and was wearing it. For anyone that has never dealt with a crap flinging toddler, it takes some time to clean up poo. Realtor calls, actually they are only 15 minutes from the house and it would be better if they could come on by and see the house.
One of two options- say no and clean up messes and finish my cake or say Sure pay no attention to the scorching cakes in the oven and the poo my DD decided to decorate her room in.
It has been frusturating to say the least and we are really trying to accomodate everyone but we are putting our children first. At first we were really excited when people wanted to see the house but we have had more people call and not show up than people that have actually seen it, that alone is discouraging to us.
As far as DH getting up for showings, nobody has wanted to see the home during morning hours. It is hours of 3-4pm when he gets ready for work and DD is finishing her nap, 5-7 (great time for dinner) even had one that wanted to come at 8-9pm on a sunday (we agreed and they didn't show up). While we asked for the 24 hrs notice we have only gotten one to follow through but the clients did not show.
Moving out is not an option, we have no family here to stay with and we can't afford to rent while selling, so we really are trying to work with the showings that pop up but 30-60 minutes notice is almost impossible for us even when we are totally prepared.

I asked for 30 minutes, which seemed like plenty in theory but was a nightmare in reality!! Most people gave plenty of notice(several hours) but a few did give just 30 minutes. I never told anyone not to come-I wanted the house sold yesterday. Please don't shoot yourself in the foot by making it hard for buyers to get in the door.

I really feel for you, as I'm in nearly the same hell! LOL My little ball of fire is a little past 2 years old. I have a large dog with a skin problem that is causing him to loose enough hair to make a wig for some bald man every day. I don't (and can't) take him with me, so he just stays in the laundry room with a dutch door for people to peek in. But I'm still a flying mess trying to pick up the toys and swiffer the hairballs when the buyers call.

My name and number is directly on the listing and this helps a lot. It cuts down the lag between calling the realtor and me. It also helps me gage if they're out driving around and can't wait or what. Often times they're sympathetic and can at least drive around the block a few more times to give me time. I do not change nap time, but I give them the option to come while I'm here (but I tell them I'd rather leave) or try to come earlier/later. They don't go in my son's room and I just wait in the yard with the baby monitor. Sometimes they just can't wait.

The laundry basket trick is very good, as well as having a few empty hiding spots around the house that you can easily through messes in.

I keep my diaper bag always packed with ready to go toys/snacks. I'm also fortunate enough that my son doesn't crawl out of the crib yet, so I put him in there with toys as I run around or park him in front of the TV with his very favorite video.

I also had a fun poop moment when I was about to leave my house for a local agents neighborhood tour and found my son had removed his diaper and pooped in the middle of the family room. I had 10 minutes until they showed. I flung open the sliding door to air it out, took my son to clean him off, put him in the crib, ran back to pick up the pile and clean the floor (thankfully laminate), and ran back to find he had stripped everything, sheets and all off the bed. Took him out of the crib and tried to entertain while I quickly remade his bed and RAN out the door. Fun times!

#1 Stop making cakes or doing any kind of messy cooking. Don't start any kind of project, cooking or otherwise that you can't clean up in 10 minutes.

#2 Duct tape those diapers! (I speak from experience having had a poo filled diaper flinging toddler)

>>>>>One of two options- say no and clean up messes and finish my cake or say Sure pay no attention to the scorching cakes in the oven and the poo my DD decided to decorate her room in. I'd clean up the poo, beore I'd let anyone in the door. However the smell alone might keep them away a bit longer..lol :) But, as I said above, when we dropped in on house#2 the homeowner had dishes in the sink & counters (just finished making something/eating) & bed unmade, etc...BUT, we liked the kitchen layout in house #2 so much better---dishes or no dishes. Same with the master bedroom, much better layout for us--made or unmade bed.

I feel for you-- when we sold our first house, I had no kids, it was so easy to have it ready all the time. When we sold the next house, my dh had already relocated and I did a fsbo with three kids, ages 3, almost 1 1/2, and a newborn. You MUST find a way to get people in there quicker. Otherwise they will read you as a potentially difficult seller and be much more likel;y just to skip your house. That may be one reason for all the no-shows. You neevr want buyers to feel that they are inconveniencing you by coming to see the house. Many buyers are on super-tight schedules trying to see as many houses as possible in a short time, and if your house catches their eye they may not be able to give you much notice. The best advice I can give you is to do what I did, leash the dogs in the backyard and pop the kids in the stroller and go for a walk-- you should have a fresh diaper bag and cooler packed every day for just that purpose. Or pop them all in the car but seriously practice until you can be out of there way faster. I have four kids now and just went through the buying/selling thing yet again-- it;s a huge pain but believe me, you will sell soooooo much faster if you can get faster and let poeple come see the house without all that notice!!!! The more you can say, "Sure! give me ten minutes" (or better, five) the more likely you'll be to get an offer soon. Keep the dog kennels in the car if you need to, or even borrow another set if you us them inside as well. Seriously, we got down to the five minute mark-- and you can, too. Turn the oven off, grab the kids, and spray a little febreeze on the way out the door!

I have a diaper bag ready at all times and an extra sippy cup ready. DD is almost 2 and Ds is 7. DS is great about helping pick up and tidy, DD is great about being messy.

I feel for you, but people I'm sure understand if you have 2 small kids and can't just run out. If you have a set appointment time like I do (10 - 7) bake the cake early in the morning. Get a routine going. Put in laundry when you are getting ready for bed, then switch it and put another in when you get up.

My daughter's diaper used to leak a lot. I've never seen a kid that had that happen as much as her. My heart goes out to you having to clean that up.

I forgot to mention, I am not leaving my house every time someone comes. If they see the house when I have plans, fine but I'm not entertaining myself or spending $3 a gallon on gas to leave. I would imagine you could also go in the back yard with your two kids.

When people came Saturday as I said, we were working outside in the garden. I'd just happened to come inside to call the realtor to see if they'd come and knocked but no one answered when they pulled up. I waited to let them in, then went back outside.

I've walked houses with people home, both followed us around. I swear I will not do that. If the realtor has questions I'm easily found.

Roselvr- we were wondering about staying home during the showing and just venturing into the backyard. DH thought that might deter people from even coming by to see, but it would be so much easier for me to do that. We've been discussing it all afternoon and trying to come up with solutions.

I do try to keep things to a minimum with my baking :( but had a call from family at last minute to bring one of my desserts for a get together. As far as the dogs- we have a rottweiler and two shih tzus. The little ones are easy to load up but Kaiser is difficult as far as his crate. I can't afford another one and don't know anyone that has an extra to borrow, so I have to collapse it and set it back up in the van or he decides to try and drive with me. I did leave him in the backyard one day, RA called last minute and I was on my way out anyway but couldn't take him so I stuck a big note on the door to not open it for any reason b'c of the dog. (people didn't show up and the dog destroyed my flowerbed)
It seems like one disaster after another and to top it off DD is going through terrible two's. DH said he would call the RA tomorrow and see how he felt if we stayed in the back until the showing was over. Of course if able to we would be more than happy to leave, but this way more people could see the home.

Terriks- thanks for the duct tape tip! I'll be trying that before bed tonite!

What I plan to do is go out the back when they come in the front, then I will walk to the front to sit on my bench. They can see the back from the bedrooms if they want, so I could stay back there. This is new to me, so I'll see how it works.

As long as you are out of the way, I don't see what the problem would be. I would be very understanding of a mother with 2 young kids. The dog would bother me due to jumping since I have a bad back, but I've walked a house with 1 large dog they didn't tie up & he was ok.

Oh gosh, I still have flashbacks of when we had our house on the market. 2 kids under 3, a very rambunctious golden retriever, and 2 indoor cats. I would ask for a half hour notice at least, and I wouldnt have anyone come in before 10 am or after 6pm-unless I had at least a few hours notice. I could load the kids and dog in the car, and do a quickie cleaning in under 15 minutes by the time my house was entering the second month on the market. I kept the kitchen table clear all the time, and had a vase with fresh flowers in the bathroom and kitchen at all times. Toss everything in the laundry basket which would go in my daughters closet, and get out quick-because half the time, although they were supposed to come in half an hour, they would be there in 20 minutes....

One thing I found that helped are the plug ins that are sold by bath and body works. Most of the other brands lose their scents or smell very phony...But the bath and body works ones were phenomenal. If you pick one scent and have it going all through the house, you dont notice anything but a nice smell. Their fresh linen smell just smelled clean and crisp. So did the cucumber melon. You dont want anything perfumey-alot of people are sensitive to that or just plain dont like it. I also found that having one in apple pie scent in the kitchen seemed to make people feel "homey". I had one in each room, including the bathroom. When they are on sale, they are 5.00 for the unit and one bottle of oil, or 5.00 for 2 refills, and they last almost a month. I figure it is worth the 30.00 or so a month to always have the house smelling fresh-especially with pets and kids.

I always made sure the litterpan was changed every morning-normally its a 1-2 times a week thing, but when you are showing your house...well-my nose may not be as sensitive as someone who dont have pets. I had one of those swivel sweepers to give everything a quickie sweep-vac (really great on hard floors-wood, linoleum, etc-not good on carpets)....It is definately worth your while to make your house as accesible as humanly possible. My house was on the market for 2 and a half months-along with dozens of other houses in my area-if I wasnt ready to have them come to me, there were plenty of other peole who wouldve been able to accomodate. Lots of luck!
HTH,
~Dawn

I'm with everyone else who says that if you want to sell, you have to put up with the inconvenience. I think 24 hours notice is unreasonable. There may be people who are on a househunting trip where time is very limited for them to find a house. Like someone said upthread, they were on their way to one house, saw another home and asked if they could see it. Sometimes it's impossible to have that much notice.

I suggest you stop baking and let your family know that you cannot provide home made desserts while your home is for sale. You have to concentrate on getting your kids and dogs out of there, not cleaning up the kitchen after you've been baking up a storm!

I think one hour's notice is more than sufficient, but you will still get the last minute showings from your driveway. Most times, people are extremely understanding and can see past the cooking dinner in the kitchen mess. All you have to do is explain to the realtor the last minute nature of it and to pass it on to the buyer's agent.

As for being home, I am extremely uncomfortable when the seller is home. Even if they are just sitting out in the back, I don't feel comfortable opening kitchen cupboards, closets etc.

If at all possible, you do need to leave, but sometimes because of the last minute nature of showings, you just can't do that. People in that case understand. People who have an appt for a showing several hours in advance will not.

Unfortunately, these are the pitfalls of selling a home in a buyer's market. Many people have young toddlers who swash poop all over their room 5 minutes before a scheduled showing. While your children must come first, you do have to put up with the inconvenience of selling your home - unless of course, you're really not in that much of a hurry to sell.

Dinner hour is one of the highest traffic times for people looking as are weekends.

Also, we love seeing listings. Would you be willing to post it so that we may offer constructive advice on photos, etc.?

groomingal, It's not your agent's decision as to where you will be during showings. If it makes life easier for you to take the kids and go out to the backyard, then do it! The people who will be looking at the house won't even know you will be there until they arrive.

Next time the family wants a cake, just tell them no until the house is sold.

Gloria

I sympathize with you wholeheartedly. We too asked for the 24 hr notice but it rarely worked out that way. Once, I was in the bathroom and heard voices and a knock on my door. Good grief, it was the realtor with a looker. I wasn't about to yell out "just a minute, I'm on the toilet!" So I yelled out "just a second, I'm coming." Apparently, they didn't hear me and next thing you know, they're opening my door and I'm still finishing up my business. Talk about embarrassing! There was no notification at all that she was even showing the house that day. We had expressly told the realtor not to show the house without at least our notification. We didn't want people coming through without our knowledge. But it seems, they do what they want, when they want. Unfortunate. Thank goodness I won't be selling my current home for many, many years to come.

HarveysPooka

I say most of the time 2 hours notice is plenty. I would clean at night & have a list of last minute things before a showing. My house was big & I had 2 dogs to haul away.

I found that system working pretty well for me. I lost some potential lookers when the realtors would call saying they are in the neighborhood & wanted a showing NOW.

If you go with a 24 hour notice, you will lose showings. Unless, your house is so unique & offers something great, they will go on to the next house wothout looking at yours. Buyers don't like to be inconvenienced.

I stayed in the back yard a couple of times during showing. It was fine. The buyers spend of of the time inside, anyway.

One hour's notice seems to be the average here.

I imagine you can't shorten the time to get the kids in the car, but you can make the dog moving easier. Moving and setting up a dog crate is time consuming and a real pain. Do you have to crate the rottie in the car? If so, you can generally buy a used dog crate on craigslist or even get one free on your local freecycle. Or you could crate him outside, with a sign on the door that lets dog lovers know he is only out there crated for the duration of the showing.

Our realtor usually gives us about an 8-hour notice during the week as most people who have seen our house during the week have seen it late in the afternoon or early evening, so she knows by mid-morning and gives us notice. We haven't had many showings on the weekends other than a few second showings and, with those we've gotten a day or two's notice. 24 hours+ notice seems to be the norm around here (Iowa). Fortunately, we'll be moving in 2 1/2 weeks and the house will be empty and showings can then happen anytime. It will be SO nice to not have to keep the house neat and tidy and constantly have to pick up after teenagers!!

Is it possible to have your dogs stay with friends while your house is on the market? Our cat has lived with DH's parents for the past two months our house has been on the market. We also have a dog but because we get plenty of notice, we just take her with us. Or can you crate them and leave them in/out of the house? I remember looking at houses when house shopping and seeing plenty of pets in crates or even caged in the fenced yard or tied up in the backyard. I think as long as your dogs are "contained" no one is going to care if they are at the house.

I agree with other posters that if you want to sell your house, you have to put up with some inconvenience. Do stop baking and doing other things that are hard to clean up at the last minute. Plus, I don't think your house has to be perfect for every showing...poopy stuff should be cleaned up, but if there is a wayward toy or dirty dish here and there, a serious buyer will overlook it.

It sounds like you have the kid stuff down (barring any last minute poo episodes). If I were in the middle of baking and got a 30 minute notice - I'd just explain - baking stuff will be out on counters. I personally would never have a problem going through an otherwise nice house and seeing cooking stuff out - they have to understand that you live there too! If they don't - well they'd probably be terrible to deal with. And as my realtor said to me - its part of the realtors job to educate buyers and sellers. To me that's part of the education process and you need to talk to your realtor about that.

Seems adding in the dogs is the tough part. Do the small dogs have crates in the house that you move to the car? Can you crate the small dogs and leave them in the house? And keep the big crate ready in the car during the day? Keep looking for someone to borrow one from if you can't afford it. You could also keep an eye out for a used or free chain link outdoor kennel thing. Once in a while they'll pop up.
My old Blazer has D rings in the back. I used to attach a leash to that for the dog (harness on dog to keep from choking). What type of vehicle are you using and is there some way to block off the back to keep the rott from coming forward so you don't have to move the crate as opposed to having to collapse and pack it? Is their a family member willing to take the dogs for awhile?

I also think you need to talk to your realtor - you are willing to accomodate people but there has to be an understanding of 1 hour notice and I'm probably good, 30 min notice or less is fine but the house won't be as picked up and that you want your realtor to relay that to the other realtor and find out if that's ok - your realtor should be able to find out from their realtor what kind of people they are - does the house need to be perfect or is it also a young family with small children? A few more minutes on the phone talking shouldn't kill them.

Also - what's with the no shows? Can others chime in here? Should her realtor be screening these people better? I don't think it would be a bad thing to tell her realtor - Hey! we're doing our best to be accomodating - maybe you can make sure people are actually going to come?
I mean - this relationship has to work both ways.

You can ask for 24 hours and for in town buyers I really don't see why its an issue (is one day really going to be some sort of real estate life or death?) but for out of towners it is an issue. Again - if the realtors are talking this should come up.
I recently was on a house hunting trip - talk about costing me money. Realtor was totally unprepared. He didn't call for appts till well after I got there and everybody wanted 24 hours notice. I'm a don't care, I'm looking at mechanicals, roof, location kind of person but I didn't get to see one house because I was only there for 3 days. He sounded so wonderful on the phone. (Why this guy is still sending me emails I don't know:)

I can speak to the issue of no shows from a buyer's perspective, but not sure if this is the problem in this specific case --

When looking at homes out of town, we'd typically tell the realtor what we were looking for and she/he would line up homes for us to view. Often, and I mean very often, we'd drive up to the home and it was like that one commercial where the couple doesn't want a ranch home and the realtor would pull into driveway after driveway of the same type of ranch home. We would often find ourselves saying no need to see this house because it didn't meet our minimum requirements for a home, either due to location or style of house or size of house or something. When you're looking from out of town you don't always have the luxury of knowing the areas enough to say no to a house on the realtors list until you see it. The realtor should cancel these appointments, but I can tell you from sitting in the car with a realtor that they don't.

5 no shows out of 9 appointments is a lot though. Is there something about your home that looks good on paper, in the listing, on the computer, but when they drive by outside it turns them off and they don't even bother looking at the home? I'd certainly talk to your realtor and try to glean why so many no shows.

I do try to keep things to a minimum with my baking :( but had a call from family at last minute to bring one of my desserts for a get together.

In a situation like that, I would grab the stuff and bake at their house. Even if you're at a barbQ, it can bake when you 1st get there.

As for being home, I am extremely uncomfortable when the seller is home. Even if they are just sitting out in the back, I don't feel comfortable opening kitchen cupboards, closets etc.

I expect people to come in and open closets & cabinets - heck, my kitchen is already staged. lol I made sure that I went shopping for matching glasses and packed away the non matching ones that hubby & I both had from previous marriages. I even bought a new cutlery tray, bought shelving for the dishes, bought wire shelves for the cabinets.

I don't have a problem opening closets & cabinets either even if the owner is following me around. If the house interests me that much, I'm going to look.

I am there to buy their house and they know that. If they are or were looking for a place to live, they are doing the same thing. For the most part, I can go in a kitchen and tell if there is enough storage just by looking at how many cabinets there are. If there isn't at least the same amount I have now, I won't bother to look further in their cabinets, I don't need to.

Roselvr- we were wondering about staying home during the showing and just venturing into the backyard. DH thought that might deter people from even coming by to see, but it would be so much easier for me to do that. We've been discussing it all afternoon and trying to come up with solutions.

Where I live, people being home during showings doesn't seem as big of a deal. For me to go any where, it's a 30 minute drive. Talk to your agent and see what they say. So far my realtor has been telling me to calm down, she says you're living in the house, people expect to see you living in the house.

Think of it this way. If you were disabled like me, could you leave every time? If you were elderly? You have 2 kids and pets, it's not as easy for you to rush out. Pick your battles. If you went out back then maybe got the animals togther, baby in the stroller, then go around the block. You could tell the agent that comes that you will be taking the kids for a walk, maybe that will help.

My walk through will be here in 30 minutes. I have the vac outside and will clean my car. Since this is my realtor coming to show, I will be inside once they are done walking the house. It's supposed to be a guy; so I have to remember to ask if he saw the crawl space.

My line to any other realtors showing will be that I am outside. The last one said, you don't have to go outside, you can stay in the house... My reply if it happens again will be, that's ok, but I'd rather go outside. I've walked a few homes where the buyer was home & following me around, it made me uncomfortable so I'd like to give you a chance to look without me being in the house. I will then say, if you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them and excuse myself.

Well, I'll be blunt, from a Realtor's perspective. 24 hour notice will make your house get shown less. Much less. You will indeed come across as an unmotivated seller, and the time frame will just not work for most buyers. Some are only in town for a short while, may only have a few hours to look, etc.

Selling is a royal PITA; I know, I'm selling my own house.

When selling, you have to change your entire life. This is no longer your home, it's a commodity. We stopped eating anything at home that might leave smells. We put our large dog in the garage for showings with a note saying he'd be removed for any 2nd showings. We put the other dog in her crate. We cleaned every morning, and spruced before each showing. We didn't allow the kids to paint, chalk outside, etc. We all knew this was a pain, but temporary.

We had an average of 4 showings per day; some with 10 minutes notice. I never declined a showing, and I made sure my family knew that our family goal was to sell this house, and if we could do it quickly, we'd all be rewarded.

I understand that you want to put your family first, but your mindset unrealistic. You really have to have the attitude that *anyone* can see it at *any* time to sell.

"Often, and I mean very often, we'd drive up to the home and it was like that one commercial where the couple doesn't want a ranch home and the realtor would pull into driveway after driveway of the same type of ranch home."

I was in a similar situation when I was a young, first-time home buyer. My agent drove up to a house and I said that I had no interest whatsoever in that house. However, my agent pointed out that the seller had gone to a great deal of effort to prepare the house for our visit and it would only be polite to at least take a quick tour. She added that we could provide a service to the seller by providing feedback on our impressions of the house.

Up until then, I had never considered the sellers' inconvenience of preparing the house for our visit. Ever since then however, I have always followed through on all appointments. I still silently thank my realtor all those years ago for teaching me proper house-hunting etiquette.

I was in a similar situation when I was a young, first-time home buyer. My agent drove up to a house and I said that I had no interest whatsoever in that house. However, my agent pointed out that the seller had gone to a great deal of effort to prepare the house for our visit and it would only be polite to at least take a quick tour. She added that we could provide a service to the seller by providing feedback on our impressions of the house.

And even if the buyers don't want to go in it would just take a minute for the agent to run in and leave a card.

Bethesdaman -- if a buyer is on time constraints, like we always are due to a relocation, we only have a limited amount of time to see all the homes on a list. Usually just a weekend. I've eliminated some homes as soon as I walked in the front door, no need to see the rest of the house. I've eliminated some homes as soon as the realtor has driven up to them. I'm a buyer with time constraints, and I don't believe in wasting valuable time viewing a home when it doesn't fit my needs. As a seller as well as a buyer I always appreciate the time the seller puts into preparing a home for showing, but I'd rather spend the time in a home that I actually have an interest in buying then a home that the realtor put on the list that doesn't meet my needs.

"I always appreciate the time the seller puts into preparing a home for showing, but I'd rather spend the time in a home that I actually have an interest in buying then a home that the realtor put on the list that doesn't meet my needs."

I think we'd all rather spend the time in a home that we have an interest in buying. But when you or your representative have made an appointment to visit a house necessitating the expenditure of time and effort on the part of the seller, it is simple common courtesy to follow through on the agreed upon visit. I'm not saying that you should spend an hour or even 15 minutes walking through every room; just a brief walk-through and having your agent leave a card is sufficient.

When I worked in DOJ, I was on a mobility statement and moved from Miami to Durham, NC, to Southern Illinois to Washington, DC all in a period of 6 years, so I know all about time constraints when trying to find a place to live when relocating. However, ever since that first visit with my agent, I have always been able to find 5 minutes to walk through a home when an appointment had been made to see it.

But when you or your representative have made an appointment to visit a house necessitating the expenditure of time and effort on the part of the seller, it is simple common courtesy to follow through on the agreed upon visit. I'm not saying that you should spend an hour or even 15 minutes walking through every room; just a brief walk-through and having your agent leave a card is sufficient.

I have to agree. Common courtesy seems to be lacking these days as lives get busier.

I was impressed with the feedback I got from the walk through Saturday, my agent emailed me the form from the buyers agent. I was able to see that my house showed well; realtor also noted that the house should go fast. There was a section for buyer having an interest in the house - to which they said no, buyer looking for a mother / daughter or a house that can be converted.

We're taking the time to adjust our lives, granted some people don't.... I think that at least leaving the card to show they were there or filling out some kind of feedback form makes the seller feel it isn't for nothing. Even though my realtor doesn't use business cards (she uses pens) she did say that she would give feedback on every house we looked at.

One thing I found that helped are the plug ins that are sold by bath and body works. Most of the other brands lose their scents or smell very phony...But the bath and body works ones were phenomenal. If you pick one scent and have it going all through the house, you dont notice anything but a nice smell. Their fresh linen smell just smelled clean and crisp. So did the cucumber melon. You dont want anything perfumey-alot of people are sensitive to that or just plain dont like it. I also found that having one in apple pie scent in the kitchen seemed to make people feel "homey". I had one in each room, including the bathroom.

I'm trying to make sure I don't burn my favorite sweet nectar candle, which is very mild due to what's been written in this forum. I realize not everyone likes my scent. The scents you listed, especially the melon & linen would get my eyes tearing so bad that I would have to turn around and walk out. I don't know what it is about these 2 scents but they drive my eyes crazy. I would rather have someone use a bunch of glade counter-tops then to smell these.

roselvr - what is a mother/daughter house?

roselvr - what is a mother/daughter house

Sparkals, a mother/daughter is a house that has an in law suite or accessory apartment. Raised ranches, also called bi levels are very popular for converting to mother/daughters.

Pretty sure it has 2 master suites.

Oh, so technically, the same as a home with an inlaw suite with two separate living spaces and a kitchen on each level.

Oh, so technically, the same as a home with an inlaw suite with two separate living spaces and a kitchen on each level.

Sparkels, thats how it is in my area, but it sounds as if its different where Roselvr is. In my area, a house with 2 mastersuites is called, "a home with 2 mastersuites". LOL

We feel like we just get shoved around while this is trying to work and our realtor gives us a hard time when we say no or ask for more notice than an hour or 30 minutes. It is a major upset in my childrens schedule when meal and nap time get changed in order to show the house.
Out of curiousity, what type of notice do you get from your realtor? Even better what would be a suggestion to helping the showings go smoothly on our end?

The important thing to keep in mind it, is it depends on the type of market you are in. Since you've indicated your realtor is giving you a hard time when you say "no, or come later", im assuming its a buyers market. Each appointment you turn away means another day you are on the market. The more days you are on the market, the lower your selling price will be.

If your children nap at the same time every day, simply tell your realtor, no appointments between 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 or whatever nap time is. My suggestion is to forget the 24 hour notice. The buyer that you REALLY want is the one that wants to see your house in an hour. Thats the hot buyer that is looking RIGHT NOW. The buyer that can give you 24 hours notice is in no hurry and isnt afraid of loosing your house. Its not easy selling a house. I am a realtor and personally sold my own home 2 years ago. It was a living hell for 3 weeks. I kept telling my family, if we just deal with this for a little while, it'll be over and we won't have to do this for months. It paid off. The bad news is, I haven't been able to get my son to clean his room since! Once we moved, he became a total slob, I think he's retailiating! :)

It's funny, when I was looking for my house 9 uyears ago I had no idea why my realtor would call first. Now I know.

Some of the houses we visited had the owners or renters in them. Never kids though. It was no big deal. The prior owner of the house I ended up buying used the showing as an opportunity to water and do yardwork. I thought she was being conscientious --- again now I know. But for the second showing she was gone. With one house, the guy sat on the patio reading.

On so many of the showings we went on, I knew within 1-5 minutes that the house wasn't for me. And whether people were in the house or not didn't affect my decision. But probably because I go with my gut, I know quickly what I like and don't like, and don't feel the need to go through cabinets and closets on a house I know isn't for me.

I think staying in the yard is fine with the kids and pets. When you think of it, when the right match is made between buyer and house, they know it. And they will request a second and third showing anyway --- that is when not being there is more important.

Good luck. Your house will sell. You are getting a lot of showings.

linda wrote
If your children nap at the same time every day, simply tell your realtor, no appointments between 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 or whatever nap time is. My suggestion is to forget the 24 hour notice. The buyer that you REALLY want is the one that wants to see your house in an hour.

I think this is a very good idea and something with which the OP can work.

You are also right that the buyer who is really in a hurry wants to see the house now. That's how we will be when we move across the country some time this year.

If I was told I had to wait 24 hrs to see a house, I'd say forget it.

The buyer that you REALLY want is the one that wants to see your house in an hour. Thats the hot buyer that is looking RIGHT NOW.

Is this really true? I would think so only for a really desirable property (not that this isn't") that may sell fast regardless of what market you are in. Certainly when I was on a relocation trip it would have been nice to see some houses - but honestly I didn't have to buy and wasn't going to be rushed, it would have had to have been the perfect house to buy on a 3 day trip. Now I'll be in an apt for 6 months - I will look leisurely as with the coming recession I'm not sure whether buying at all is at all smart financially in a dying rust belt city. However if the job is what I hope and I hope to stay - I will probably buy - but only if its perfect. In that scenario 24 hours makes no difference. Of course for me neither does some mess.

One story - the sellers left their friendly old Golden out in the house with a lock box. No problem, both my realtor and I are both dog people. But...we split up to roam around the house and the old dog got sort of upset I think and started woofing and growling at me as i tried to walk through the kitchen to the front door. Effectively trapped near the refrigerator, I opened it praying for hot dogs. Sure enough - they had some. Got one gave it to the dog and managed to slip by it to the door before it got it down.
Whew.

You might think about putting up a temporary dog run in the backyard, so you could easily confine them without having to load them up in the car to leave the house.

That's what we did when selling last year - DH had already moved to another state, I was working away from home fulltime and our house was on a lockbox so buyers could see at their convenience. Their realtors would call the house first to see if I were home - when I was, sometimes I'd only have 10 minutes before they came over. Once or twice a realtor just knocked on the door with their clients in tow! No warning.

Any project I was working on, whether it be paying bills or packing boxes, I had to finish and put away - no leaving stuff out to work on later. Each evening before going to bed I made sure the dishes were washed (no dishwasher) and the rooms picked up. In the morning I'd put the dishes away from the drainer and put the dogs outside before leaving for work. Turn on the ceiling fans, straighten the magazines on the coffee table, etc.

It's really a bother, sometimes, to be selling a house, but if you really want to sell you'll have to make it a priority. Much more difficult with small children, so you'll have to think about the best ways to streamline your daily chores and activities. You don't want to make it difficult for the buyers to see your house.

Ok I have been trying to read all of these and see what works great for us. We talked to the realtor today and told him that we are open to having an hour notice at the least but it may not be feasible to leave the home but we will try if possible. We also decided to block of the hours of 2-4 for DD naptime and DH also gets ready for work from around 3:30-4- so this worked best.
I called and ordered, yuck, 4 birthday cakes today.
We switched the crates and found a smaller one for our shih tzus- so the ginormus cage is outside under a shade tree for Kaiser (he can be confined during showings), the large cage is in the house for him to use during his naps and at nite, and the smaller one is easy to pickup and move to the van if need be.
So there, eliminated my cake issues and worked out the doggie situation. Also gave duct tape on the diaper a whirl and DD was unable to go on a crap flinging fest, wahoo!
I do most of the other things such as dishes, laundry, cleaning at nite, but it is the unexpected things that throw me off. You know a sipee cup dumped on my freshly waxed floor, just the little things that I don't like happening right before someone walks in.
We had another showing call in 2 hrs prior to this afternoon and I said go for it, whew. We've been told the house shows well and haven't had any negative feedback. If I get a chance tomorrow I will post our listing (with some help please :) and see what advice you guys can offer.
I think i'm too paranoid about messes in the house and that people will reflect that in their decision, guess I need to let go of that one.
I've heard of some people being the see it now buy it now, but others that set appointments (thats us)
We really are motivated to sell so we are working to figure out what will work best and hopefully what we did today will be the best.
Thanks everyone for your help, I really appreciate it!

GG - It sounds like you've taken the advice here in the spirit it is intended - to be helpful! Good for you!

That's great you solved the dog confinement problem - just make sure you have adequate water for Kaiser in his crate when he's outside, especially if you're in a hot climate.

Wonderful that you found some off limit's hours that work for you in terms of nap time for the kids and for when dh is getting ready for work!

Sounds like you have a great attitude and I hope you sell soon!

BTW, if you want to post the listing, go to your realtor's website, copy and paste the link of the actual listing into the "optional link URL" below and then name the link beneath that. Just in case, include the MLS number in your post if your realtor's website defaults to the homepage even with the link to your actual listing.

PS: YAY!!! No more flinging poo!!!! That's gotta be the best part of this! LOL

I'm late entering this thread but it brings it all back, when we had listed our house in Hawaii (we were moving to the mainland and the house was the only thing keeping us there- we did everything we could to get it seen). It was definitely easier for us because we have no pets or children, also because we got an offer after five days - even then though we felt we had to keep it ready for the buyer and for backup showings - until closing it isn't really ever over. I said all this to say I can't imagine how crazy this must make you because even with just the two of us it was totally disruptive to keep the house "show-ready" - the 'sweeping things into a basket and taking it to the car' thing happened every time - wet towels and everything - my car looked like a rummage sale was taking place in it. But, we never turned down a showing no matter how short the notice - the above posters are right when they say that those that want to see right now need to be accommodated or they might not return... and the more people that see it the better off you are.

We couldn't wait for it to just be over - I sympathize so much with you and wish you all the best.

When I was looking to move from NJ to PA, we were only able to come out and look at houses once a week. The agent we happened to be using was only familiar with certain areas of PA, and since we were pretty open about the different areas to check out, she herself wasnt too familiar with some neighborhoods with homes that cane up in our price ranges that we were going to see. A number of times we would be driving to a house, and would pass a house with a sign out that interested us enough to have the agent call to try to get us in to see it.

We were very serious buyers, and needed to find something immediately. We had put in offers on 3 different houses only to find out they were already spoken for, so we were almost desperate, and wanted to see as much as time would allow us to. We also had our 2 little ones with us, so it made things pretty difficult. The owners who refused to let us in within the hour were forgotten about as we went on to different neighborhoods. The house we ended up buying was a house that we spotted while driving to another appointment. The people had to move because the husband had a medical condition that required him to live close to a specific hospital that was pretty far from here, and they were already in the middle of making arrangements to purchase another home. We went in, saw the house, and gave them an offer that same night which was promptly accepted.

linda:
He's hot right now, he wants to see it, he's ready, he's there. (geeze as I read this, it sounds a bit pornographic, but I'll leave it LOL)

Thanks for making me spew my coffee on my new monitor!! LOLOLOLOL

So not to hijack, I'm going to post a thread about the issue you brought up about how realtor's plan their time.

Just our experience over the past weekend and on Monday about being available for showing on short notice - we are looking for rental townhouses in California and saw some ads in the paper and on Craigslist - called the numbers in the ads and were able to see some of them the same day, some the next day, but some we didn't hear back from until late Monday afternoon. Some of the ones on Monday were the ones we wanted to see the very most of all. My point with all this is that IF we only had that weekend to look and decide (like many others have mentioned in this thread), the Monday ones would've been eliminated from consideration.

Our lease isn't up until mid-July so we have more time than some - buyer's situations are different too. ANYTHING you can do to be flexible and get the most exposure - to be available to the greatest number of people when they are in the mood to look or are in the neighborhood or whatever is what you should try to do.

Having bought & sold a few homes, I agree that it really takes flexibility and willingness to show at any opportunity. As much as it goes against our instincts, and it makes life harder, it doesn't hurt the kids to have their schedules upset or even temporarily change for a while (I went through it with a 2 year, 5 year, & 8 eight year old) But, when people came unexpectedly during nap time I simply told them DD was asleep & they quietly looked at the room & that part of the house without ever disturbing her. The one time that I was cooking dinner, no one thought that was unreasonable --if I could put things on hold, I would have, but, they realized that they had asked to come at the dinner hour. Keeping the kitchen otherwise clean & attractive made the difference.
The only time I really had a problem was when I had sold, was packing to move (I had leased back for two weeks after the close) & discovered that the buyer was trying to flip the property & was showing the house while I was at work! Without telling me! I came home to find my belongings shoved into closets, clean laundry piled into the hamper with the dirty, the frantic mother cat locked outside
(the kittens were inside), boxes tossed into the garage--That upset me!

The only time I really had a problem was when I had sold, was packing to move (I had leased back for two weeks after the close) & discovered that the buyer was trying to flip the property & was showing the house while I was at work! Without telling me! I came home to find my belongings shoved into closets, clean laundry piled into the hamper with the dirty, the frantic mother cat locked outside
(the kittens were inside), boxes tossed into the garage--That upset me!

Are they allowed to do that? Renters have rights... My parents used to have a 2 family. When showing the house, we had to give the renters notice from what I remember.

This is why I won't close unless ownership can be taken the same day. It's not worth it.

but raee was NOT a renter. She was a "tenant at sufferance" or something--there bcs the owner is letting her.