I am showing my first 2 homes tomorrow and the homeowners will be present during the one. Any tips on this? Any obstacles I should look out for? Or how to conduct myself while I am there. Should I show my buyers around the home or should I allow the homeowners show them around?

Ack! Don't let the homeowners show them around, or they'll be like my dad: "This is where we re-painted the basement walls after the sump pump failed -- but don't worry -- we fixed it." "Yeah, we like it when it's quiet on the lake like now. In the summer all those motorboats are going day and night, making a racket."

Well, when I get to the house, and greet the homeowners, what should I say? Should I ask if I can show my clients around? Seems weird with the homeowners there.

Homeowners CAN cause potential problems as CarolinaSongbird mentioned -- hopefully their agent has prepared them for this situation and stressed how important it is for them not to be too involved. ;-)

On the positive side, I have had only good experiences (so far!!!) with homeowners being home, as they often let things slip such as "we'll take a lot less than we're asking!" or "we're probably going to lower the price $20,000." "We've already bought a new house in another state and we really need to sell." LOL

It's always good to take the initiative -- when they open the door, make introductions, make a little polite conversation and then say, "we won't keep you from what you were doing, we'll just start here in the living room/kitchen/dining room. Thanks so much!" And then turn to your clients and start your spiel.

Don't be rude, obviously, but you get my drift - hopefully they'll take the hint and go away. Just stay in control as much as possible.

Just saw your follow up question -- just introduce yourself, your clients and say, "thanks so much for allowing us to see your home today." I usually comment on the weather, "beautiful day for looking at houses today" or "brrrr...it feels good in here" or say something light -- just something to break the ice.

Then after a few moments of conversation, "we won't keep you from what you were doing, we'll just start over here in the living room. (or wherever). Thanks!"

They'll assume you're going to show your clients around the house; I'd say the majority of time, they'll retreat quietly and until you go into the room where they are, you won't even see them.

Good luck tomorrow!!!

Start my spiel? I dont have a spiel! lol

I mean if we enter the house into the living room. I dont want to be like, "well here is the living room". It's pretty self explanatory. Maybe it would be best to let the owner show us all around. They may divulge some sort of good info.

Ok, I'll do that.

Figures, I am showing these buyers 7 homes...2 tomorrow, 5 on Sat. afternoon. And the first one to show the owners will be there. all the rest are vacant.

After looking at the tax records, I think I actually know the owner. Well I dont know him, but I know who he is. He used to live at the end of my street and his parents still live there actually. And I do see him outside their house when I am leaving my neighborhood. Small world.

Well, there you go! You have a topic of conversation right there. You'll be fine.

I didn't mean point out "here is the living room" -LOL - rather, I meant figure out a way to end the conversation with the homeowner and signal to him that you're going to show the house to your clients now - hopefully he'll get the hint and go away. You can do that by saying, "we'll get out of your way now and take a look at the kitchen" or something similar.

I tend to let clients look around without my editorial comments...I don't ask a lot of questions of my clients if we're in a house when the homeowner is there and within hearing distance, but if it's vacant, I prefer to ask questions rather than tell my clients what they're looking at -- "what do you think of this kitchen?" "does this layout work well for you?"

People will tell you in the beginning what they think they're looking for, but sometimes it is surprising what they end up buying -- their real priorities will eventually surface, even if they don't articulate it well at first.

The best thing you can do, in my humble opinion, is LISTEN and pick up on verbal cues. If someone says, "I don't like this kitchen," don't assume it's because of the hideous tile or gold refrigerator...it may be something entirely different and you'll only know if you ask.

Don't let the homeowners show the buyers around. You'll be there all day. I usually try to distract the homeowners (if necessary) and let my buyers do their thing.

but it's something to remember when you get your own listings... I tell my sellers that the most important thing they can do to sell their home during the marketing process is to be gone for showings!

Let us know how it goes...

I'll let you know how it turns out.

When the listing agent tells me "the homeowners will be there" I ask them to please explain to the homeowners that we will say hello and then they should leave the house, I will pull the door shut behind me. This is exactly what the top agents say to ME when I tell them the homeowner will let them in to MY listings. The listing agent has to explain to the homeowner that it isn't necessary they be there to point out the "features" of the home.

Ok, I showed them the 2 homes tonight.
So here is how it went.

First home we went to, there was supposed to be no one there. Pull up, house is dark, all lights are off, fumbled with lockbox, got it open, when we entered it took a minute to figure out where the light switch was, walked thru the kitchen where food was in dishes on the counter, looked at the cat poop on the floor in the mud room area, proceed to the basement. Then I hear something, some girl starts walking down from 2nd floor. "Oh, the house is sold" she say, then mom yells "I didnt sign anything yet". mother comes down and say no one told me you were coming. She said she marked it on the calendar for last night and no one showed up. Anyways she allowed us to look around told us a little bit about the house and we left.

Second house, I did end up knowing who the owner was. and my Buyer recognized the seller from a swim meet that the kids go to.

Overall it went well.

Had them come in the office, signed them up on a Buyer agency aggreement for 3 months even though the wife was apprehensive about even picking up a pen.

Good for you getting the buyer agency agreement signed! ;-)

Just remember to ALWAYS ring the door bell and ALWAYS knock on closed doors before entering! You never know what surprise may be waiting for you. Even taking those precautions doesn't always work. I know - because even ringing the door bell and knocking on the bedroom door, didn't alert one hearty sleeper!

I will be showing them five more homes tomorrow morning. No one is supposed to be in any, but now I know better and what to expect.