THE MARKET PROCESS

This is what will happen.

Other brokers will call at 1:30 p.m. and say they want to show the house at 2:00 p.m. You rush around and set the stage. It's not convenient, but you leave anyway. You 're gone two hours, come home, and a moment later the doorbell rings. It's that same agent, and he has his buyers with him. You 'II probably let them in, but you'll maybe think, "Why couldn't this person be more considerate?"

Please remember that agents can 't make their buyers arrive on time or arrive at all. Buyers make appointments and expect to go right out to see the property. If the agent waits until the buyers actually arrive, then he 'II have even less warning to give you. Buyers who are late for appointments buy houses too, and we want to work with them. And maybe the buyers were unavoidably delayed.

You might get a call ten minutes before the agent wants to bring people through. Sometimes they come to the door with clients in the car. They shouldn't - but some buyers won't conform to a schedule. Many buyers are that way, because they've got to make a quick decision. These situations can be aggravating, but they can pay off with a quick sale for you, too.

Please be patient.

WHEN THE SIGN IS OUT FRONT

A stranger may come to the door and say, "Can I see your home? I noticed the "For Sale" sign out front and I might be interested."

Keep my cards handy by your front door. Unless they have a real estate professional with them, tell anybody who wants to see your home:

"This is the agent who's handling my property. You can call his office for an appointment, or if you want to see the house right now, I'll ask you to excuse me for a moment. I'll call the office and get an agent to bring you through."

PLEASE LEAVE WHEN THE PROPERTY IS SHOWN

I'm really doing this to protect you emotionally, too. Because I know you love this house, and I know every brick that went into this place went into it with love. When some guy comes in here and says something like, "This brick job is sure bad", or "The drapes aren't right with the window", your feelings are going to be hurt. Prospective buyers say things like that when something doesn't suit their particular taste. That doesn't mean their taste is any better than yours is, it's just different. Sometimes they say stuff like that to drive a better bargain by pretending they don't like your house.

Or they might say, "Oh, I love this place. It's my dream home! I'm going to run back to the office right now and we're going to make an offer". I want to save you from that emotional mish-mash. So, just leave, and I will tell you what the buyer's response is.

THE STAGE MUST BE SET

You know, selling a house creates an abnormal situation. It's not normal to have strangers walking in and out of your house. You want to get that process behind you as soon as possible, and the way to do that is to think of your home as a theater. From now on, you 're putting on a performance. It's like staging a play.