Absolutely leave. Buyers for the most part do not want the seller around when they're looking. I did have a sick child once and wasn't able to leave, I told the agent this when the agent called to set up an appointment. So we stayed unobstrusively in the living room during the showing. But best case scenario is for the seller to leave.

It is defintely best to leave in my opinion.
I never felt comfortable looking at a house when the owner was present. It always felt as if I was intruding.

I always took my dogs and left during appointments, but my listing agent was always present.

When we were shopping, we did find that more people than I expected stayed at home during the showings. I found it distracting for some reason, even though they usually just sat in the living room.

Yep....leave!!

Nope, unless I had a scheduled appointment and was away, I was always home during a showing. I go about my business and pay them no mind. There is no reason to leave your home just for a showing. I have never had any of the agents we have used tell me it is best not to be home. Go or stay it doesn't make a difference. NancyLouise

I pack up my two kids and leave. I will say this, though. Realtors in my area will call and ask for an average of a 2-hour window. It's not always easy to find somewhere to go for 2 hours in the Texas sun. I wait until the realtor arrives, and then the kids and I leave out the garage.

I always tried to leave unless my son was napping, then I gave them the option of waiting or coming while I was home. In that case, I just stood outside with my baby monitor. The dog always stays though -- in a large laundry room with a dutch door for them to peek if they really want. My dog is way too large and it's way too hot and there's no where for him to go.

I could care less when I tour homes with owners in them, doesn't distract me at all. My DH HATES it though, and won't even get out of the car -- even if the owners are waiting outside! It makes him way too uncomfortable and I've noticed he makes bad assumptions by judging the looks of the owners as opposed to judging the house itself.

I think it depends a lot on the house and what the agent knows about it's features and benefits. I have a house that's a bit unique in location and construction and was there the second time my realtor showed the house. Frankly, I was a bit upset with the lack of knowledge and inability to articulate local isues and property issues that I went over with him.
He is from a local office that should know.
My overall impression of REAs is that they are "order takers" and not "sales people".
I find I do a better job of selling the house and if someone wants the space to on their own look I allow it, or they can return for a second look with just the REA.
I have asked my REA to ask the people he is showing. Some people like having the owner around to answer questions.

I think this is a relatively new thing, perhaps dating to when more women entered the workforce, smaller families, kids in daycare, multi-car families -- fewer people "at home" during the day.

I've looked at plenty of houses where I tiptoed around napping babies (or grannies), but that was in the 1960s. Nobody wants a homeowner thisclose while looking at a house, but why would you care if the owner is sitting out on the porch or with kids and dog in a rec room? If you have any questions, your realtor can ask the seller and you get your answers right away. You also may learn something of value to your negotiations from the seller.

julie -- I'd have to side with your DH, but in a different way. Seeing the owner can provide some additional information.

chisue -- depends on what you call newer -- it's been common since the late 70's at least (that's when we looked for our first home) for the the homeowners to be gone for a showing. I prefer the homeowners not be present and will actually spend more time looking at a home and it's features if a homeowner is not present.

I followed that rule of always leaving too. Except one time, I had had a bad morning and my 18 month old was finally napping. I did not want to wake him. I met the people, a young couple, apologized profusely, and spent a half hour after they saw the house (with the exception of his room) telling them all about the neighborhood. They made an offer that night because they were hoping that, (and I have to quote) that "all the other neighbors were as nice as I was". I don't necessarily advise this technique, and had our house been on for a while, I might have woken up my child. But we sold within a few weeks in a hot market.

Jo

Beacher has a good point...one I have been wondering about. We renovated our house two years ago, expecting this to be the "last" house. We put a lot into it, make choices very carefully and feel that lots of things should be pointed out to potential buyers. I can't imagine a realtor doing anything but big picture talk. But, maybe that's what sells...a feeling or general look, not specific details??

Also...a bit OT...does anything ever disappear (like get stolen) during open houses?

...sorry, I see there's a thread on things disappearing!

Off to read...

After leaving the house for appointments that didn't show up, I don't think I will. I would rather be ready to leave, and then do so when they show up. For initial showings, the buyers should be able to view and assess the house during their quick 10 minute walk through. If they want to see the house alone, they can request a second showing.

That is what I did when I bought 9 years ago. If the owners were there I ignored them. I don't think it really matters. If you like the house, seeing the owner unobtrusively reading a book shouldn't make a difference. I think we are all trying to figure out that magic which makes a home sell, and it is really the buyer liking the house....not the photos, not whether you are home or not etc.

Around here it is pretty much SOP that the seller leave the house and staying was never presented as an option by the agents. However, I have been very stubborn about either my agent or someone from their office always being IN the house, not standing around outside (or even sitting back at the office!) letting the buyer and their agent cruise my house, because I am just SO very trusting of people. :-) It's definitely obnoxious when there's a no-show but I just tried to schedule doing errands and such so that it wasn't totally wasted time. Since it's summer I have had to leave our Nordic-breed dog crated in the bedroom where the window AC is, which has probably been a turnoff for some people but that's just too bad. To take him with me I would have to drive around for two hours which is a ridiculous expenditure of gasoline - I would not be able to go grocery shopping or to the library, because only a real scumbag leaves a dog in a car on a hot day.

I did have to chuckle about the "10 minute walk through" though. The only time we've ever had a 10 minute showing as either seller or buyer is when we or the buyer didn't like the house from the moment of getting out of the car and just went through the house to be polite. Most of the "good showings" were an hour or more, and we've had a handful of two-hour-plus ones - including today's, our first with the new agent. We only had two second showings and both people put in offers. Maybe it works differently in other areas or when people are relocating long distances and have to look at fifty houses in a three-day weekend - we only had a couple of relos. It's really just as inconvenient for me to have to go out for 20 minutes as it is for two hours (since the hassle factor of showings is more the cleaning and weeding and dealing with the dog, which I would have to do no matter what, than putting on semi-presentable clothes and getting in the car).

As for "getting the details straight", that's one thing that has been pleasing us about our new agent - I've filled out endless forms and written down tons of stuff, she has totally grilled me to make sure she had her info right. Some buyers are simply very detail oriented and want to know everything about what they're looking to purchase, especially if they're not the sorts who want to jump right in and tear everything up right off. She also had no embarrassment about calling us on her cell during the showing today to double-check a couple of things.

We toured some FSBOs and found it a little bit sad how often the owners "put their foot in it" and said things they really oughtn't have said. I also got very uncomfortable at times because I felt like I couldn't speak honestly with DH without the owner overhearing and getting their feelings hurt - they're speaking proudly of the kitchen they painstakingly remodeled in 1978 and we're both thinking about how it needs to be gutted and completely reconfigured but can't discuss how we would do it and how much it would cost (and therefore how much it would affect the price we would offer) without freaking out the owner.

It is standard procedure to leave and also standard procedure that the agent knows nothing about the house they are showing. If you want to sell your house I think you should type up a page on the history, features of the house and leave it where all buyers can pick it up. I want to know how old the ac/heat is, I want to know what material your water pipes are made of, how old the roof is, recent repairs, and you can add in things you like about the neighborhood, etc. I am so tired of asking agents questions only to hear, I don't know, will have to get back to you.