The Lockbox or Appointment-with-Agent Controversy

One of the choices a home seller gets to make is how the home will be shown to a prospective buyer, and sellers need to choose between a lockbox or appointment with listing agent.

At first glance, most people would say, "Hey, let my agent show the home." That's because agents are handsomely rewarded to market and sell real estate. Sellers also say the listing agent is the person most informed about the home, and the agent has intimate knowledge that can be passed directly to the buyer or the buyer's agent if the listing agent is present.

Moreover, lockboxes can be a nuisance, sometimes envisioned as an invasion of privacy, and security issues sometimes arise. Thieves have cut off lockboxes and stolen the keys, although those are generally rare and isolated circumstances.

But some studies have shown that homes without lockboxes take longer to sell, sometimes twice as long. And whether a seller incorporates a lockbox into the marketing plan is often contingent on local custom. In buyer's markets that are flooded with inventory, homes without lockboxes get passed by in favor of those easier to show.

If you're on the fence about which is better for you, first consider . . . read more

Ready to Know More About Showing Your Home? Click below:

• Increasing Home Showings
  
• How Lockboxes Work
  
• How to Hold an Open House

_{©2006 Elizabeth Weintraub}

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