By The Numbers - 7 Showings, 30 Minutes, 2 Appointments

I'm showing seven houses to a buyer tomorrow morning. The buyer is coming in from out of town, so I've got my fingers crossed that the scheduling will go smoothly. This one should be a little easier than most, since they're all in Cheverly. Sometimes you end up driving all over the county when showing houses. This time, scheduling should be easier because I won't have to factor in traffic jams and road construction. So, here goes. 1st property. I have to schedule the showing through the listing agent's office. Except that I can't understand a word the agent on duty is saying. Either the phone connection is awful or he's eating his dinner. I'm not sure which. He said he'd call me back to confirm the times, but I haven't heard from him yet. 2nd property. I have to schedule the showing through a showing service. I like this service because they are very easy deal with. But the service needs to confirm with the seller, so again, I have to wait for a call back saying it's okay. Fortunately, within 20 minutes, I got the call and this one is confirmed. 3rd property. I have to schedule this one directly with the listing agent. I dislike these the most, because the agents seldom answer their phones. So I've left a message. Still not confirmed. 4th property. Yea!!! This one is vacant, so I don't have to call anyone. Two now confirmed. 5th property. I have to call the listing agent's office AND the seller to schedule. This is frustrating, making the same call twice to make one appointment. I won't know if this one is confirmed unless I get a call from the seller saying "don't come". 6th property. Another one that I have to schedule directly with the listing agent. This person has a really long message on the answering machine, and I get a call in the middle of listening to it, so I hang up, take the call (which is basically the "what are we having for dinner" call from my family). Then I call the agent back, wade through the long message and record my wish to show the property. Still no call back on that one. And finally, the 7th property. Another one where I have to make the same appointment twice, once through the listing agent's office and again with the sellers. No firm confirmation on that one either. Actually, these are confirmed unless they get unconfirmed. So, thirty minutes of phone calling and only 2 firm appointments to show. I'll let you know how the actual showings go tomorrow! By the way, if you're a seller, ask what your agent does to make it easy to show your house. After all, you do want to sell it, don't you? © 2006 Susan Pruden.