The Role of Access in Selling Your Sarasota House

Once you’ve made the decision to sell your Sarasota house and need to hire a real estate agent - Bill Bambrick a local Sarasota Realtor to help, he ask how much access to your home you want to give potential buyers. Your answer matters more now than it did in recent years.

Open Houses are important in getting active buyers to see your property, but this is a small part of the bigger marketing strategies I utilize today. A strong paid digital campaign getting eyes on your listing not just for local buyers but people looking to relocate to the Sarasota area.   

Here’s why.

At the height of the buying frenzy seen during the pandemic, there was a rise in the number of homebuyers who put offers on houses sight unseen. That happened for three reasons:

• Extremely low housing inventory
• A lot of competition from other buyers wanting to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates
• And general wariness of in-person home tours during a pandemic

Today, the market’s changing, and buyers can usually be more selective and take more time to explore their options.

So, in order to show your house and sell it efficiently, you’ll want to provide buyers with as much access as you can. Before letting your agent know what works for you, consider these five levels of access you can provide. They’re ordered from most convenient for a buyer to least convenient. Remember, your agent will be better able to sell your house if you provide as much access to buyers as possible.

1. Electronic Lockbox on the Door – This allows buyers the ability to see the home as soon as they are aware of the listing or at their convenience.
2. Providing a Key to the Home – This would require an agent to stop by an office to pick up the key, which is still pretty convenient for a buyer.
3. Open Access with a Phone Call – This means you allow a showing with just a phone call’s notice.
4. By Appointment Only – For example, you might want your agent to set up a showing at a particular time and give you advance notice. That way you can prepare the house and be sure you have somewhere else you can go in the meantime.
5. Limited Access – This might mean you’re only willing to have your house available on certain days or at certain times of day. In general, this is the most difficult and least flexible way to show your house to potential buyers.
6. Agent Present for Showings - Make sure your agent is there for all showings so they can articulate the unique features of your home while engaging the level of interest of those buyers.  

As today’s housing market changes, be sure to work with your local agent to give buyers as much access as you can to your house when you sell.