At first glance, you might wonder why a seller would be showing a home, especially when that seller is represented by a real estate agent. However, situations in which the sellers are showing a home can happen in many instances that are all fairly common. In many parts of the country, agents routinely call sellers to make an appointment to show a home.
For example, a seller might be living in the home and there when the buyer and the buyer’s agent show up to see the home. Of course, everybody knows the seller should immediately leave the home when a buyer appears on the doorstep with an agent in tow, but it’s the comments from the seller on the way out that can cause problems. A seller doesn’t have to be present for the entire home tour to say the wrong thing.
There are also times when a tenant might be uncooperative, which could require that the seller be present during showings. Tenants might not respond to a listing agent or a buyer’s agent’s requests for showings and prefer to open the door only for the owner. A seller might not allow an agent to secure a lockbox to the home and insist on showing themselves. Sometimes, sellers like to be involved in every step of the home showing process, and it’s such a bad idea from all sides of the fence.
When I first toured the home that my husband and I bought 11 years ago, I was appalled at the way the sellers hovered over us every step of the way. They thought they were helping to sell the home, but they had the opposite effect. They wanted to show us how deep the closets were, and the fact that drawers under the raised closets, which looked exactly like drawers, actually opened, just like drawers would open.
I am amazed to this day that we even bought that house after the claustrophobic feeling we had when the seller was showing it to us. The seller closed every door after we passed through. The house had a ton of doors, more than an ordinary home needed. As a result, I couldn’t even remember what much of the home layout was like. But I did recall coming away knowing that the sellers would take a lot less for the house based on things the sellers said.