I'm just wondering what everyone here considers a reasonable amount of homes to show in an afternoon. Last Sunday I had a buyer who wanted to see 14 HOMES. Although I thought it was too many, I accommodated them and showed all 14. By the time it was over I was exhausted, they were confused, and their 2 young children were bouncing off the walls.

And next week they want to do it again. Any suggestions on how to tactfully tell them that we should narrow it down and spread it out over a few afternoons?

What would you all consider a reasonable number to show in an afternoon? TIA.

To me no more than seven homes........anymore than that and it's all confusion. My favorite number is five I think, they can really focus on the homes, don't have to rush through them to see them all, can take plenty of notes and remember everything. With that many (14) all you end up with is a headache and cranky kids. Just tell them if they are rushing throught the homes they might just miss the home they really want.......if you know what they are looking for, maybe you could preview ahead of time and take them to see those ones. Good luck

My rule for years is five in one day. Any more than that, they don't remember. Get their requirements, and narrow the list, or let them drive by on their own.

Get their specifics and preview the homes and give them a detailed narrative of each. Then let them narrow down the search...Good luck!!!

14 is way too much,also tell them that it doesn't make sense to see so many homes they won't remember which is which and some of the homes will already be under contract before they can put an offer on them.5 is the limit after that they all start looking the same.

1.make sure what you are showing them they can afford.(they might not relize with there credit score they might be able to get a bigger house or a smaller house depending on there score)

2.make sure they fill out a paper with 2 columns,one side is the must haves and the other side is the wants.

I've found many people are more concerned with quantity than quality wether they realize it or not. I wouldn't even think about showing 14 in the same day. Now if you're talking about just driving by houses then 14 isn't so bad but to actually have to schedule all of those showings I wouldn't show any more than 5. If they're really spread out or in different cities then maybe 3.

I'm more concerned with finding them the house that most accurately meets their description rather than 30 that are sort-of what they had in mind.

It depends on the buyers. I've shown that many and closed sales before. For most buyers this is way too many, but some can handle it and in fact will go crazy if you try and spoon feed them only 5 at a time. I prepare a tour book with a page on each property and encourage them to make notes on each to keep them straight. Some houses they walk in and in 5 seconds they turn around, other houses they like and take their time.

The only hard and fast rule is there are no hard and fast rules.

My own personal opinion is to let the buyer drive by the homes first and then break it down to three (typically). If they want to see more than five (my limit which I still think is too many) than I will personally break up the showings throughout the week or two weeks. My own personal rule of thumb is if I have to show you more than ten houses then it is either one of two things:

1. I'm not understanding your needs well enough, in which case I'm doing something wrong

OR

2. I've got one (or set) of lookey-loos.

In either case, I'm losing money and time so I'll force myself to make a decision regarding the relationship. Normally I can deduce that pretty quick. These are just my personal guides. I know everyone works different.

Also I don't have anything against kids seeing homes, but when buyers are trying to see a lot of homes they just aren't going to remember them properly with kids in tow.
They should consider leaving the kids at home until they've found a few they really like, and then they bring the kids back for a second viewing. Or, if they must move immediately and this is the only weekend they're seeing homes, fine, bring the kids.
--A

I usually show my first meeting clients more homes than at any other time and I wouldn't hesitate to show 14 if they can handle it.With IDX readily available most of my new buyers have already saw pictures and information on homes and of course they already have the "perfect" home picked out. After I have shown them these perfect homes and ruined their dreams (the pictures look sooooo much better)they usually trust and listen to me and the number of homes shown in a day (if it takes another day) goes way down.

They'll never remember the details for 3 houses, let alone 14!!!

Give them a spiral bound notebook and a pen and ask them to make notes so they can remember each listing.

I usually give buyers copies of the listing brief and ask them to make their notes on them.

14 is waaayyy too many, you need to bring them into your office and look through your MLS computer. Pick out 3-6 they really like and go see them.

Also if the children are very small encourage them to get a sitter (or you get a sitter for them). It's tough to look at house and keep up with small children who generally have a very low threshold of boredom plus it's really not fair to the kids to drag them all over.

I am a rookie so this may not matter to much.

I had a couple that needed to find the right home to buy in one weekend. They wanted to see every home they could in a wide price range. They were from out of state and did not know anything about the area, but a job transfer left them no time. I had only a few hours notice to get a list together with little info on what they liked other than # of bedroom,baths and they wanted a home office.

I showed houses from 9am to 9pm on a Saturday with no lunch or dinner break. The lady took great notes on every house. Showed more houses from 9am to 1pm on Sunday. I think the total was around 25 homes ... They bought a home and it's due to close soon.

I DO NOT plan to ever do that again, but if a customer in that same situation ask me to do it again I probably will... don't want to, but I will.

After seeing the 14 homes I am sure they have narrow down what they want (must haves) and can live without list. Eliminate the listing or bring them to your office check the virtual tour and knock down the number of homes to be preveiwed.

Good Luck