[PROPERTY] An alternative to show days

Brian Charlebois of Flynn Estates writes: 

So you have decided to sell your home. Now you have to decide if you are going to allow show days or not.

Some of the large agencies will not pay to advertise in the weekend supplements unless you agree to a certain number of show days. I wouldn’t let that trouble you, as the local papers and property portals are where it’s at right now.

If you are not happy with having the great unwashed masses meandering through your home, then the alternative is VBA or view-by-appointment.

The biggest advantage of VBA is that if the buyer’s enquiry is made through a property portal then the agent has an email address and a cell number for them.

They can now pre-qualify. Simple questions like ‘do you currently own a home or are you renting?’

If they own then the agent should ask ‘if you find a home you absolutely love and want to make an offer will it have to be subject to the sale of your existing property?’ Many sellers in today’s market don’t want to wait for a buyer to sell their own property.

The agent should also ask if the buyer is self-employed or employed by a company. This is absolutely critical as self-employed people are treated very differently by the banks. The VBA is then arranged and the seller notified. Are you starting to see how much safer this is than a standard show day?

The agent can also do a variation of the above with an invitation-only-open-house. They inform all inquiries that there will be a viewing time next Saturday afternoon between 2pm and 3pm and then email them a formal invite with a map. This invite becomes their entrance pass onto the property. A few years ago I did an event like this in Douglasdale and had two offers that very afternoon.

Now I don’t have enough space here to talk about the many variations on VBA, but they are excellent alternatives to show days. A lot more work to set up – but worth all the effort.