Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / The Shocking Reason Sellers Should NEVER Be Home During Showings: It Could Cost You THOUSANDS in Santa Clarita Real Estate! (2025 Alert)

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The Shocking Reason Sellers Should NEVER Be Home During Showings: It Could Cost You THOUSANDS in Santa Clarita Real Estate! (2025 Alert) · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I get questions from time to time from friends.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have a couple of those, so I'm not trying to brag.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: But when they ask questions about real estate, it's kind of a slippery slope because I need to try to understand where they're coming from.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: In a lot of cases, it's because they have a friend or relative that has their house listed or using some other agent to buy something.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: But it's usually another agent.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So they heard this second, third hand, maybe firsthand, they heard one of their relatives or friends say, hey, you know, if you have a friend that's a real estate agent, maybe they've talked about me, which I would be honored if they did.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: But let's say they mentioned and said we have a friend, and would would you ask them this question?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So something comes to the forefront.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: So let me throw this out at you.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the question was I guess there's the these folks, they have an elderly relative, I guess the mother.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of close.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that far from who the caller was.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this would be the son-in-law.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So he's asking me a question.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Every time my mother-in-law, or in this case, known her for a very long time, 35 years, so there's a lot of uh you know, a lot of relation there.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: But every time that they show the house, she has to be home.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: She has to let the buyers inside with the buyer's agent, and then she has to answer questions in the residence as the showing the property.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know their market, but it is in Southern California.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, well, it is kind of far from Santa Clarita, but it is under the same real estate designation, probably the same Board of Realtor rules.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe their board of realtors is a little bit different, so it might not be the same Board of Realtors.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: But I said, you know, frankly, I really can't answer this question because they're represented by another agent.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: They said, well, how does it really work?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: How does it work?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I said, well, I don't know what they explained or what kind of agreement they have.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: But in my world, typically, I wouldn't want my seller being present if I could help it when properties are the properties being shown.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The reason being is that sellers are usually kind of friendly.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: They want to sell their house, so they probably did what I asked them to do, prepared it for sale, so they have none of the smells coming through.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: They have it clean, they have everything put away, they have it, you know, basically as if their house was going to be dated by another house.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: They totally prepare it, get it all manicured, dolled up.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So when the people show up, the house is looking in the best possible shape it can in its current condition.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: If they have rooms, they have I love me walls, they have various focal points we decide to change, then all that's been done.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So now the people show up to look at the house.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now the seller being there, that's kind of odd.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: I probably wouldn't want my seller there just because, like I said, sellers tend to offer too much.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're not hiding anything, but they start to negotiate.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And some of these things, some of the items in the property should be or best negotiated later on, not up front.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So if they like all the furniture to ask or strike a deal with that potential buyer through their agent while the house is being shown that we're going to include all the furniture, that actually cuts me off at the knees, not allowing me to be able to use that as a negotiation point further on in the process.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, whenever I'm representing a buyer, we go into a residence.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: In most cases, and we encounter a seller, my my information to my buyer, my instructions to my buyer is when you encounter the seller, I can't talk to them except just the basic pleasantries.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: But what could end up happening is you can ask them the questions that would maybe help us formulate a good offer.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: When are you, where are you going?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you moving?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me about your house?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me about the neighbors?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me about the neighborhood?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because the seller is there, we get a lot of information out, and then maybe even ask them what they would take besides what that listing price happens to be.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: As a real estate buyer, you can ask any of that.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: As a real estate agent, I can't because they're represented by somebody else.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that this woman, this elderly woman, is required to be at the house when showings happen, I don't know why that would be.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe she wants to be.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: See, this, I'm not hearing this from the horse's mouth, and if I was, I wouldn't be able to answer the horse because the horse is represented by somebody else.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: But because it's a relative, you know, try to figure it out.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe she had an agreement.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe she's a seller, and I've encountered sellers before that don't want to ever have their house shown unless they are present, and that happens.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: But in some cases, that doesn't help the seller in the process of selling their home.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing is maybe she didn't feel comfortable with having a lockbox put on the property and giving agents access.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's why her number was publicized in the multiple listing service for showings to be scheduled through her.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: In my world, I said I wouldn't want my seller's phone number being anywhere in the multiple listing service, even in the confidential spaces.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: There are agents that are probably violating the rules that have access to the MLS that potentially are scraping that information.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're probably entities that do the very same thing.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they're pulling that phone number out of there for future use.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's being put into a database, it's assigned to that particular property.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: They pull a title report on the property, find the owner's name.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now they match up the owner's name with the cell phone number that's put on the showing instructions and the confidential part of the MLS.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows what they do with it, but that could be a potential problem.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: It used to be 10, 12, 15, 20 years ago, that was not an uncommon thing to put the seller's phone number where the showings will be coordinated with the real estate seller.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, they usually weren't there either.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: They weren't present at the property when the showings took place, but again, the coordination sometimes took place with them.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now most agents will put their own phone number in the MLS, and I'll have an instruction to my seller.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, I'm going to be texting you the information from the agent, the time they want to show, and the date, and these sorts of things.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll text that to you.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I just need you to come back with me rather quickly with a verification of whether that's going to be okay or not.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I would rather have more okay's than not okay's because to sell a home in any market is going to require showings.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And in a lot of cases, these showings are being scheduled with potential people from out of town, people that are relocating, or people that really don't have other times to look at properties besides a particular day of the week.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to be able to give as much access to the property as possible to give you the best benefit as being a real estate seller in this in any present market.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So these are questions I don't have an answer to.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: But that's how I would handle it.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, I discussed part of the issue with, in at least in my world, having the seller present besides negotiation, it does open them up to now being identified with the property.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Not that we're trying to hide anything.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, they could probably locate that in a title profile report, which is actual public knowledge.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: But now they have the seller.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say the agent didn't do their due diligence on the buyer's end of it to qualify the buyer.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say they're hungry, so they get a phone call from a buyer of a criminal type nature, and then they call the agent, say, hey, listen, I want to see this house.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Would you mind showing it to me?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you should get pre-appro.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll just call somebody else.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, well, wait just a second.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let me let me see what I can set up.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Can you at least, you know, what do you think?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, whatever they might have done to be able to get the showing.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then now they come into the house, they case the joint, they look around, they see what the people have.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe when the agent isn't looking, maybe a couple people come in and one of them, you know, hit the jewelry box or go into the medicine cabinet or clean out the change drawer, whatever it may be.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the seller didn't wasn't given that information to get rid of all the prescription meds, make sure everything is under lock and key.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: But again, you know, these are things that shouldn't happen because the the agent with the buyer should be following them around, asking them questions throughout the process, even if they've never met them before, and of course have pre-qualified them prior to taking them into the residence.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when a buyer says that, you know, they're qualified or they have a suitcase full of money or they have all this money on hand, that's fine.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Most sellers would require that there's some kind of showing of funds or proof of approval prior to showing properties, depending on price range and area, and that's not an uncommon request.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you as a real estate buyer calling around wanting to look at a property, if they're asking you for pre-approval letter or your cash on hand or whatever it may be to be able to make an offer without a lender, don't take offense.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes sellers want that information to know that you're actually qualified before you go view their home, and they are the seller of the property.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's not some kind of a bad requirement, that's not unusual.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: So if they're asking for that, make sure that you have that information lined up.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: But in some cases, maybe they're not asking, maybe the agent doesn't ask, so now they're encountering the real seller, she's elderly or has maybe she puts herself at an unnecessary risk.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll leave it at that.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: So these are things that I would explore and try to figure out, but that's usually how showings are done.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I said, well, maybe she's not comfortable with the lockbox, but the lockbox isn't based on the old technology where back in the day we had a fob.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before that it was combination, right?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So anybody that had the combination could get in.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then they transferred that over to a fob system through SupraKey, which is now you had to carry this box with you to open properties, but back in the day it was still a violation.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I know of agents that potentially would have given this fob to their clients because they're busy.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to tie themselves up with showing houses, which again, very there's no excuse for that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: But so they the clients themselves would have this FOB have the phone number, the the PIN code to punch into it and go open up these lockboxes.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's totally changed.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now those particular lock boxes are now tied to the mobile devices, the telephones via an app, and there's only one access point allowed.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So in order to make that work, if an agent were to do this, then they would be fined or kicked out of being a member of the Board of Realtors, which is a big deal, but they would have to give their phone to the client to have them open up that particular box, and for that to happen, it would be difficult.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, there's also a uh record created whenever that Bluetooth box, that super box, is open.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So now we know who went in and we know when the key was returned or when the actual shackle or the uh the place that holds the key was returned back into the box.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have wherewithal to be able to tell us if a key is actually in there or not.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, some cases with properties, if they have a digital lockbox on the front door, I still require agents to use the box to open it, and I'll put the combination code in the box, or I'll have tell them to text me for the combination code in the box.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So when they slide it back, then I know they're in the property, they're at the property, they already had an appointment because I've already verified that beforehand, and then I'll send them the code to the front door.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's lots of ways, different ways to do it, but maybe they didn't explain to her the key, the key box technology where there isn't that chance of somebody just going in that's not an actual realtor.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And as far as going to the property doing the showing appointments, back in the day, I might I might have remembered, I might remember a handful of times when somebody might have accessed the box when they weren't supposed to.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Driving by, they see a real estate for sale sign, they see the box on the front door, and the agent takes it upon themselves because the house looks vacant to go show their clients the property without any appointment or without even looking and checking on the status and the multiple listing service.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's a super big sin now.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: That stuff doesn't happen.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: It might happen, but it's incredibly rare, and if it does happen, it's a problem.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: So telling them all of these things, maybe that's one of the reasons why she's at the house when they show the property.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: But in most cases, I would definitely say they shouldn't be.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, here's this agent is a family member.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a little bit more here.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: With them being a family member, let's say somebody wants to see the house.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know the proximity.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the agent's in a complete other zip code or another, and it takes them a while to get to the property.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that part of that discussion was the agent showing the property to buyers.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: The agent then, if they're unable to show buyers when buyers want to see it, then they should have actually gone out and had that listing given to somebody else with a closer proximity to the property.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: There is no excuse to sell a house, it has to be available to be seen.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: I talked to sellers about this, I talked to other agents.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: The days of you saying that the property is not available, those buyers aren't going to wait.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's enough inventory to satisfy.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you're holding a unicorn property, a completely special property, there might be a difference there.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But in most cases, buyers aren't going to wait.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: The properties have to be available to be shown.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, that's about five cents or ten cents on showing and some questions that I get from time to time.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, this helped you and your search for real estate in some way, shape, or form.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking about listing a house, maybe this also helped you with some explanations as to how it's done and typical market strategies.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Connor with Honor.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can visit me at Santa Clarita Openhouses.com.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's my pleasure, and we will see you in the next one.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for watching.