Don’t make holiday buyers climb down the chimney

(As seen in the 12/6/19 Ledger column)

With Thanksgiving in the taillights and a plethora of religious holidays on the horizon, anyone owning a home should be extremely grateful they are not forced to experience the homebuying process during this frenetic market.

Those selling their homes, or pretending to do so, are not doing buyers any favors, either, as showings are becoming difficult, at time due to inefficient, unprofessional real estate brokers. Sellers need to take a line from the wise bard and decide if they want to sell or not to sell. That is the question, and a seemingly easy one. There should be no dilemma.

It is for sale or it isn’t. If it is for sale, it should be able to be shown to prospective Realtors and their clients, often known as buyers.

Recently, a home in Inglewood had a restriction that it could not be shown until after contract was negotiated.

Another home in the Music Row area requires appointments be arranged by the listing agent. Said agent is missing in action. He did find time to attend the Tennessee-Vanderbilt football game. Facebook makes detectives of everyone.

Showing the house is the first step in a process known as selling. If a seller actually would like to move, the home for sale should be ready to be shown at all times. Visitors should be warned that they might have to take in a movie or grab a bite to eat on a moment’s notice.

Although it seems foreign to many sellers, holidays are busy times for showing houses. Many people are not required to work, thereby allowing them opportunities to engage in the homebuying process. Although these buyers relocating to Nashville realize Nashville is in the southeast, many have not to come to grips that there is an athletic conference that goes along with that geographical description.

They know of the Bible Belt, but not the religious affiliation with football.

“The game kicks off at 2 o’clock” is not justification for a declined showing to the newcomers. They think barbecue is a verb and football is played with round balls that cannot be touched with the hands.

There are families, children in tow, who spend tens of thousands of dollars to visit Nashville to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they had hoped in order to buy one of these overpriced houses.

Buyers are floored when they see Nashville real estate prices. Once they regain consciousness, they are ready to hit the trail, usually armed with a few dozen listings fresh from Zillow, most of which are under contract. “How can that be?” they ask. They soon learn.

Jack Miller, a Realtor renowned as much for his wit as his real estate success, had the following post on his Facebook page: “Please don’t pick on older children who still believe in Santa. There are grown adults who still believe Zillow is accurate.”

As Paul McCartney wrote: “Do me a favor. Open the door. And let ’em in.”

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark Realty and can be reached at [email protected].