What is the largest number of homes you have ever shown to one potential buyer? Did the buyer end up purchasing with you?

Do you have a limit to the number of homes you are willing to show a client? It seems to me that if you have an exclusive buyer's agreement you must either agree to terminate the contract or show them as many homes as they want/need to see.

I am amazed that many realtors do not want to show buyers more than 3-10 homes, when the purchase is usually going to gain them at least a minimum of a couple thousand dollars. Besides, I would think that most buyers find a neighborhood and usually stick to exploring there, so driving around a 1-3 mile radius for a couple of hours is not exactly extreme hardship towards actually earning a commission. However, in larger areas, driving to this neighboring small town or back & forth across the city with someone who hasn't even narrowed it to a part of town, would easily become tiresome to say the least.

Driving around the same neighborhood showing buyers 3-10 homes is not usually what those Realtors(R) are having a problem with, and refusing to do. My firt buyers wanted to buy a cheap house (foreclosure) in an area where bottom dollar houses were 100K plus. I showed them some in the 60K range and they were not impressed (neither was I), some people when their house goes into foreclosure don't bother to keep up the upkeep. So after trying to convince them they needed to look somewhere they could afford (a neighboring city) they agreed. I drove almost an hour each way several Sundays in a row to show them houses, wouldn't go on weekdays. Altogether I showed them 20+ houses, and they finally setteled on, I kid you not, a 45K home. Then they decided they didn't have the money to pay for the appraisial, or to buy a fridge (this house was excellent I would have lived in it if it were closer to my husband's work, it was a house that was inherited and the kids just wanted it gone, so they underpriced it by 30K), so anyway the deal didn't go through because they didn't want to buy the appraisal or the fridge. If this would have gone through, I would have only made roughly 800, was it worth it to me....no. But, it was my first time, and I was learning. I learned several things from this. 1. Get them preapproved before showing houses, 2. If they want a cheap house in a town that is too expensive for them, it is a sign 3 Always do a buyer interview to see exactly what they want and have them commit to a certain area, town, or price range.

Good post cgordon. I can't help but wonder whether or not the couple gave you positive referrals---but then would you want friends and family clients from those particular buyers.

I kid you not, I showed this young girl 10 to 15 homes every sunday in a particular neighborhood for two months straight. This area had a lot of rehabbed homes and there were probably 5 homes for sale on almost every block. She decided to put an offer on one house, but wanted to sleep on it first. In the morning she informed me that she decided to rent instead and that she'll contact me again in a year

Now I think that maybe I was showing her too many homes, in fact so many that she couldn't make a decision.

I sincerely hopes she comes back and seals the deal.

From reading the answers, obviously, all areas are different. where I am there are tons of second home buyers, so there is no urgency.

I've never set a limit to the number of homes, but I've never shown more than 15 to a client that actually closed. When I first started, I had similar stories of clients who saw 30-40 homes, then changed their minds about buying all of a sudden. Once I learned how to properly screen/qualify buyers, I've been good at only selecting serious buyers who pick a home and close. I even did an experiment once, where I didn't have the buyer commit to an area, and she wanted to look at almost 20 different houses EVERY DAY. Needless to say, she didn't close. So I don't thnk you should put limits, but if you have serious, qualified buyers, you won't have to because they'll usually pick a home soon enough.

The most I've shown to one buyer is 9, in one day. We basically traveled to 3 different towns to show the houses. By the end of the day, we submitted an offer on the first home we saw. Boy, was I tired.

Everyone says to work with investors and that you can get MULTIPLE deals off of one person.For th emost part here is the truth.

There are a handfull of serious investors in the market.The rest read a book,have unrealistic expectations on price,or are gunshy and even if you find them a deal can't pull the trigger because of fear.Most serious investors run there own ships and only want to contact you when you have a deal for them.This is why I only focus on listings if the deal is good I will draw the serious investors out and I will buy the really good deals myself.

Think about this you can manage ten listings at once while buyer agents show them.Can you take all 10 buyers out at the same time?NO,not unless you have rented a bus or have a buyers tour where they are all looking in the same price range.

As far as showing more than 10 properties,sure you can show 50 if you want to but the ones they liked earlier on will probably already be under contract or sold so it's a waste of time.

Thanks for sharing your truth in response to the OP.

From your post, I sleuth that your direct answers to my questions are zero, no, and yes---0.

So...how we convey to buyers that we have a showing limit?

I have a contract with a buyer and have shown them over 30 homes. I decided it was my fault they didn't buy because I must have been unable to "close" them. They went to my broker and made some netgative comments about me. My broker is now showing a couple to them and he has no problem with them. I was disturbed that someone would do that. They will never find another agent to do for them what I did. I was told by them that they wanted a house NOW, that their family was moving in with them until they found a place etc., etc. They sent me listings and I sent them listings so it was working well until "something" went wrong..Needless to say, I'm still upset about it. This was during the worst part of the winter too. By the way, they still haven't purchased anything.

Apparently, when they come to your office saying 'we want to buy a house, will you help us', you respond with I don't work with buyers but after you purchase your new home and decide to sell it at a later date come back to give me your hard earned money for my sellers-only time. Alternatively, you could tell them that you will only work with them if they have a confirmed loan, require you to show no houses, and can prove all of this by closing in 10 days. Either way, they will get the point and you will get the highest efficiency and the highest earnings for your time.

I hope it is obvious that I am just kidding. Your question is a good one and I would love to know the answer. I would think that limiting the buyers purchase options that way would limit the number of buyers willing to work with said agent. I wish someone who is actually successful with limiting showings and have buyers [fill in the blank] enough to go for it would share their script.

Sorry to hear that. Did they give you any indication at all? Did they ever mention to you something about the speed of a response or requesting more leads or anything that seemed somewhat benign at the time?

On the other hand, sometimes buyers have to find what is "perfect" for them and square footage or number of beds/baths is not the everything; sometimes, they know it is home when it feels like home and that is the nuance of the itfactor.

My responses were quick, I have saved the 173 emails that we sent each other just in case of Procuring cause on one that I showed them. They were pre-approved and I had the letter in my folder, and just in case I didn't mention it...there is a signed buyers' agreement but I guess it's moot now. Thanks

Oh boy... I have a buyer right now that has seen a bunch of homes. A WHOLE bunch. I'm not going to venture a guess... maybe 35? They are serious and pre-approved, we just have not hit the one they want, though we've gotten very close a couple times. Luckily, I like them as people, and it's been very educational for me in this, my first year.

As far as deals i've closed, in each case we looked at around 8-10 homes in each case.

-jeff

This post has been cleaned up and all references to a "system" being developed by a Forum User that they are not able to talk about have been removed.

I encourage this poster to re-post details of their "system" when they can talk about it.

Allusions to a business model or system without providing details when asked direct questions by other posters is not informative and is not moving this or any other topic forward, but frustrating the users of this forum and thread.

These posts were off topic as well, which is another reason to remove them.

With regard to the original topic...

How many is too many? There is no such thing.

You are helping someone purchase their largest investment of their life. They want it to be perfect and you're there to help them get into that paerfect home.

There are some Customers that make an offer on the second or third house they see, and there are those that look at lots more.

Personally, when I moved to Baltimore, I had no idea which neighborhood I wanted to be in, and saw over 60 homes over a 2 month period before I decided what neighborhood and house I wanted to be in. This was a corporation relocation, and I had never been to Baltimore before. How could I possibly have only gone out to see 8 or 10 homes and made an educated decision?

If you have a customer like me that you show 60 homes to, and one you show 3 homes to, what's the average... Every Customer is different and if you try to say that you have some type of limit of how many you will show before you require them to make an offer, then you're not giving good Customer Service.

If you say that you have a limit to the number that you can show in a day, I can agree with that. I don't take anyone out for more than 4 hours without a 2 hour break, but I DO have Customers that I take out for entire days at a time.

Thanks for saying this, Troy. It needed to be said.

I unintentionally used a form of Reverse Psychology in these situations. I sincerely told my buyers "We have all the time in the world and I'll show you as many homes as you need to look at to make the right decision for you. Even if it takes us six months to find your home, I want you to be thrilled with the home you choose." Almost always, the buyer came back with "Oh, no, I need to find a home soon!"

Troy will do that, being a moderator and all, but in general you the only person- the ONLY ONE- in the 7 months I've been on this forum, to show up, start telling us how stupid and backwards we are, and then allude to a magical "system" that oh by the way, I can't tell you about or else I'd have to kill you.

It's really pretty comical, but I applaud the moderators for putting the brakes on it. Come back when you can talk about your system on a factual, informative basis, not just by putting the rest of us down and telling us how stupid we are, and we'll take a look at it and evaluate it on it's merits.

-jeff

[quote=Jeff Olsen]Troy will do that, being a moderator and all, but in general you the only person- the ONLY ONE- in the 7 months I've been on this forum, to show up, start telling us how stupid and backwards we are, and then allude to a magical "system" that oh by the way, I can't tell you about or else I'd have to kill you.

Jeff,

Did u take your medications today?
Where did the above words come from?

Calm down.. This is only a website forum and we are not curing cancer or saving the world.

Sit down and relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jeff,
Did u know Troy has a woppppping 4 months of real estate experience...

4 BIG Months in real estate....

Jeff,
Why don't u apply to be a moderator and then u could clean my posts up BEFORE I even think of a post.

LOLOLOL

As the OP, my posts should affirm that I agree with you 100% (except maybe my sacarstic post that I wrote in reference to a special way to work with buyers (or not as the case was) that someone else mentioned; in all fairness I immediately explained that I was kidding). You have expressed my sentiments exactly but I want those who disagree to openly do so, as what works for one doesn't work for all.

I've gone out for 4 hours with a buyer, but only a couple times and only if they are in my car with me so that I have the ability to monitor the general mood. Because yeah, for a buyer to imagine themselves in a home takes a lot of work, it's exhausting, and after a while it's counterproductive.

As far as a limit on total showings, no way! Not if I feel they are a serious buyer. I guess if it got to the point I felt they were yanking my chain, or it "wasn't about bear hunting anymore" (anyone heard that joke?) then I'd shut it down but that's not happened to me yet. I agree, this is a HUGE life decision, I am being very well paid for my services, and it's my job to help them look for the perfect home.

-jeff

Because you attacked me in public, I'm going to let this post stand.

However, your information is incorrect. Can you please tell me where you got your information that I only have 4 months of real estate experience? To set the record straight, I have over 10 years of experience. Please feel free to cut and paste directly from my website.

Further attacks on members of this forum will result in your posts being deleted.

Sounds like somebody might be on there way out. but what do you expect when you claim to be the next best thing and that anyone who opposes your yet revealed marketing plan to change the real estate industry are just ignorant and do not have the ability to comprehend your great intellect.

Jeff, here is off your own site. Is it not?

"In February 2007, I completed the required course of study for the New York State real estate salesperson exam, and was licensed as a New York State Salesperson."

Attacks...
I am being bombarded on this site no matter if it is the weather report...LOLOL

I luv it!

First, my name is Troy - Your attention to detail is a great asset I'm sure.

You found me out, I admit that it is true that I was licensed in New York state in February 2007.

However, your assumption that this is how long I've been in real estate is incorrect. If you'd taken the time to read more than my bio looking for a way to discredit me, you'd see that you were on a VERMONT real estate website. I sell in VERMONT, and I only recently got my NEW YORK license.

How long have I been licensed in Vermont? I'll let you go figure that one out.

And once you figure that out, how will you be able to determine if before that I wasn't licensed in another state?

As I said, I have over 10 years experience in this business.

Thanx for the clarification

The most sensible answer to the question is provided by our moderator Troy.
There's no such thing as too many. There's only how many it takes to find your client "the one right house." It may be only a couple or even just a single one. It may also run into dozens or get up to a hundred or so. It all depends on what "the one right house" is going to be, how long it's going to take to find it, and perhaps whether it's even on the market at the time you and your people are looking.
The problem is that when someone says they want to buy a house, do they mean a house, a house, or a house? Or maybe they mean a house? Your job -- and I'm assuming you're acting as a buyer agent -- is to understand exactly what it is they want (and perhaps, for everyone's sake, the sooner the better).
In the process, though, you're almost certainly going to have to show them the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (as one of my clients has so well described it). Or, as I'm given to saying, you have to look at enough wrong ones in order to determine what a right one is going to be.
Nevertheless, if you show a sincere interest in helping a client find it and put no limit on the number of showings or the time that could be involved, you'll retain their loyalty and end up with a sale.
One of the tragedies of our industry is that not enough agnets are willing to work this hard, but the ones that do are successful.

Duncan