We have our home for sale and hired a real estate agent based on a recommendation from a mutual friend. When she came to do the listing I ended up knowing her from high school but hadn't saw her in several years. I wouldn't go as far as to say we are friends now but my wife or I usually talk to her a couple times a week. I've also planned on using her as my agent on buying a farm that we've been looking at and have talked to her sometimes daily regarding that.

Fast forward to today. I get a missed call on my cell at 5:10 from her and a few minutes later get a text that our house is showing at 5:30. My wife and I both spoke with her for 15-20 minutes yesterday and the message this afternoon was the first either of had heard about the house showing today.

My issue is I have a six year old and a 3 month old at home and, although we tend to keep our house clean and neat, it's virtually impossible to keep it spotless while we're both juggling jobs and a newborn. Long story short, our house wasn't prepared for showing today with a less than half hour notice. I wasn't at home when I got the message but later found out that the agent who was showing was actually actually already at my house waiting for the potential buyers. I was beyond pissed! My wife then calls wanting to know if I'm home and to basically warn me that the agent had called and what was going on. My wife knew the house wasn't presentable and wasn't very happy herself. After our conversation my wife called the agent back and told her that I was livid and that she wanted the showing rescheduled and we needed more than 20 minutes notice. She reluctantly called the agent who was showing and they left without viewing the house.

This is the second time this has happened and the first time we had no notice at all. I was on the couch feeding the baby at 8 in the morning and an agent rang the doorbell with a couple wanting to view the house. I wasn't even dressed so I told her I was sorry but that she'd have to reschedule. She did tell me that she had spoken with our agent the previous day and scheduled the showing through her, yet we were never informed. The couple never rescheduled.

What would you do? I think a notice would be common courtesy from a real estate agent but ours seems to be lacking that trait. A twenty minute notice, when another agent is already at my home, is pointless IMO and serves no purpose other than getting my blood pressure up.

We just sold a house in marshall county. Our realtor Gave us a full day notice. She would never show the house with out us ok ING it.

Dang, yeah a days notice at least would be great, 20 minutes wouldn't work...time to have a talk with them

I can see both sides. You need to tell the agent you need x amount of time to schedule a showing. You also need to keep it ready to show or as close as you can all the time if selling quickly is a priority. Once a house sits a while it can be hard to sell and theses are not the best of times for selling a house. Unless it was a very special house or neighborhood I would not come back to look at it after being turned away once.

I am with you, I would demand at least 24 hours notice.

We've already had the conversation about needing notice before a showing after it happened the first time.

Our house is generally kept clean and can be prepared for showing in less than thirty minutes but a twenty minute notice, especially when we aren't at home, won't cut it.

Been through this myself. Selling a house is a pain. I told our agent nobody is going in our house without hearing a "yes" from me. Leaving a message that someone is coming is not going to work. 24 hours would be nice but I think 2 hours is the norm

Karen Harrison with remax of your near guntersville. She went above and beyond for us while selling and buying.

'Nuff said. She should have the presence of mind to recognize this. Keeping a house clean for twenty minutes is a challenge in itself with kids that age.

x2

Thinking at it from the other perspective:

It may have not been her, but the other agent who wanted to show the house, and not giving her enough time when they contacted her wanting to show it.

Some people do travel in to a town they are fixing to work in, and only have X amount of time to look THAT day with an agent.

I understand wanting things to be presentable, but most people looking will understand as well.

Show the house, as you could lose a buyer.

God Bless,
David B.

If you have already told her how much time you need, you need to tell her if it happens again you are going to fire her. Every person you turn away from looking at the house because of a schedule screw up is a potential sale, and those people may be gone for good even after you change agents or companies.

When we were selling, our contract had a 24hr notice.

Just tell her NO.

The problem is, if you tell her no you are screwing yourself out of a potential sale. It only takes one buyer. You have to get it taken care of or move on.

Sold my home a few months ago and our agent would always let us know a day or two before,what really pissed me off was they would schedule a showing and we would clean or have someone come clean the house if we were busy with work and the people wanting to see the house would cancel the day of the showing,the way I looked at it was it's my house,I wasn't in a situation where I had to sell it so if they couldn't give me some time to get it presentable then they could find another house to look at

No way I would have turned away a potential buyer, if I really wanted to sell my house.

Not that uncommon, often times another realtor is showing a potential buyer the area and they see a house they want to go in. Your realtor is obligated to contact you, you can always say no- but you might be missing a chance.

I've since spoken with the agent who was showing and the potential buyers have rescheduled. The showing was scheduled through my agent yesterday, yet we were informed 20 minutes before the scheduled time today. I've also informed my agent that I'll be listing with another realtor due to her inability to communicate information that we should've had yesterday and the fact that this wasn't the first time it's happened. Had she informed us, the house would have been shown today and it wouldn't have been an issue. If I hire someone to do something, I expect them to do the job they were hired to do, or I'll find someone who will.