What is the Intention of Feedback After a Showing?

If you are selling a home you are going to be curious what buyers think of it after viewing with their real estate agent.  You cleaned the house, decluttered, and did all the suggested things to do from your agent (or did you?) and now you have showings lined up.  You can’t wait to hear what the buyers thought.  Here’s a big hint….if you don’t hear from them they are not interested….or maybe they are and don’t want to show you their hand of cards.

The intention of buyer agents giving feedback after showing the home is to essentially 1- let the listing agent know if there is interest in the house and 2-give constructive criticism on what they ‘did’ or more importantly ‘did not’ like about the home.  This benefits the seller by knowing what buyers are thinking.  But, this is a courtesy, not a requirement.

Do Agents Give Feedback?

Yes and no. I know agents that always give feedback and I know a ton of agents that do not give feedback.  There has been a lot of changes over the past few years in residential real estate and most of the changes have come by someone wanting to sue someone for one thing or another.  We live in a litigious society and we are feeling it more and more every year.

In a nutshell, years ago I would always…and I mean always see feedback from showings on my listings.  It is happening less and less these days.  The biggest accomplice to this recently is a lawsuit filed by a buyer because their agent gave feedback.  The buyer felt their agent’s feedback hurt their position in negotiations.  I don’t agree or disagree with this particular incident, though I see both sides.  The real question on whether it should be provided or not….. is what is in the feedback itself.

If feedback is given, it should be to convey why your buyers are not considering the home…such as pet smell, interior looking like a crayon box with too many paint colors, a prison behind the home, or many other things that a typical buyer may not like; a big one is the floor plan.  On the flip side the feedback may be the buyers will be submitting an offer.

So What Does Stu Barnes Think?

I will say over the years I have leaned more towards not giving feedback unless there was a safety issue like a gas leak or a water line break.  This is the right thing to do, not only as a real estate agent, but as a human being.  I do still give feedback with my buyer’s permission.  Even if it is a simple as “buyers just started looking” or “if there is continued interest I will contact you”.

Here is the Truth

Every listing I take the seller asks about feedback after the showing.  My response is always the same.  I have a system set up to contact the showing agent 3 times requesting feedback.  If they are not responding to my requests they are not likely to give feedback.  Asking your listing agent to call the agent is a moot point.  For one, no one answers their phones anymore, and if they are not responding to my texts and emails they definitely are not going to respond to a voicemail; which is sad altogether.  I am a big advocate for phone calls as it is more professional and more productive.

If there is no feedback the buyer is likely not interested, but that is not always the case.  Anything can happen in real estate.  I had a house off of Glenwood Avenue years ago where the feedback was “house is crooked”.  That was it.  That was the feedback.  Two weeks later out of the blue, that agent wrote an offer and it worked out.  Weird right?  Some feedback will just drive you insane.  I had a listing in Garner where the feedback was “buyer didn’t like pink paint in second bedroom, but loved the house, neighborhood, and amenities”.  I called the agent to see if I was missing something and she verified that was the only thing they didn’t like.  If you are wondering, I did tell that agent that a can of paint ‘at the time’ was about $30….she was not amused.

The truth is; the seller knows the feedback for the most part already.  If you have a weird floor plan, a house with a very steep driveway, strong pet odor, wildly colored interior walls, or the big one….OVERPRICED; you do not have to hear it from every buyer that sees the house.  It is basically understood.  Listen to your listing agent when they are discussing the process of getting the home ready for showings.  They will likely tell you certain things that buyers are going to “not care for” in the home.  This does not mean no buyers will like your house, it just means that in general, this feature needs some attention to at least position the showings in the best light.  Remember, don’t take it personally.  Your home may just not fit the needs of the buyer for many different reasons.  The good news is, it will fit the needs of the right buyer.  Continue to price your home correctly and keep it clean and clutter free and the right buyer will come along.  We are coming off a very challenging year in real estate where there were 37% more sellers than buyers, but that is slowly changing and we are getting back on track to a healthy real estate market.