Orlando Real Estate

In today's real estate market with an over supply of inventory, you need to to do everything you can to sell your home. That includes making it easy to show. I am writing about this, because I just tried to set up showings for six houses and I am only able to get into three. One is not "ready to show" and two require 24 hours notice. First of all, if the home is not ready to show it should not be listed in the MLS. Our local MLS has very specific requirements about this type of issue. It is in violation of MLS rules to have a home listed as active when nobody can show it until some time in the future. They have a special status call Temporarily Off Market (TOM) for just such situations. When a home is tenant occupied, I understand having 24 hours notice, because that is generally considered appropriate notice. There is no law that requires 24 hours by the way.

When the home is owner occupied, 24 hours notice makes me wonder what they have to cover up before I show the house. I understand there are always special circumstances that may warrant the extra notice. As a general rule though, I try to prepare my sellers to be ready to show within the hour. The typical response is "I still live here", and I cousel sellers that selling is inconvenient. You just have to keep things as tidy as possible, and understand buyers can overlook the small stuff. If your home is not available to see today, you may never get another chance at that buyer. Make no mistake, this is still a buyers market. Simply put; you need to have the nicest home at the best price and your home needs to be easy to show.

David Welch Real Estate Optimist, Orlando Real Estate