Buyer Tips for Requesting Real Estate Showings
- Adam Garrett
- Dec 15, 2024
- 12 min read
Updated: Mar 22, 2025
Below I'll be going over tips for requesting showings as well as helping to set expectations on showing requests.
Tips (All Covered in "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search"):
Be Prepared for Showings
As I share in my article titled, "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search" under the heading "Be Prepared for Showings":
"Several preparations are important or helpful before showings. Be sure to focus on that which is required before getting to other things, which are:
Alert Your Agent (Text, Call, or Email a Text) That You'd like to See a Property, Your Available Times, & the Format
Establish Buyer Brokerage If Looking to See with a Buyer's Agent Who Will Point Out Positives & Negatives
Among the most important preparations not required, getting (& keeping from expiring) a written preapproval (ideally underwritten) before showings is at the top of the list for buyers using a mortgage. While not typical, in some cases, you won't even be allowed by the seller/listing agent to see a home without one.
For more details, see:
Do Some Due Diligence Before Showing Requests
As I share in my article titled, "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search" under the heading "Do Some Due Diligence Before Showing Requests":
"There are some buyers I've worked with where most of the homes they initially went to were homes where they were immediately discouraged before even walking into the home due to factors they didn't like about the area or other things that weren't visible directly on the listing, but that was visible elsewhere online. Be sure to do your due diligence, especially in areas where the agent has some legal limitations in pointing out flaws (i.e. school districts & crime rates). Especially if you don't have a hurricane evacuation zone filter going, be sure to always check for flood zones in SE VA prior to getting excited about a property.
Related:
Know How to Alert Your Agent that You Want to See Properties (i.e. text)
As I share in my article titled, "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search" under the heading "Know How to Alert Your Agent that You Want to See Properties (i.e. text)":
"If Adam's your agent, text (24/7 - you won't wake him) is going to typically be the best way to reach him for showings. If you don't text, you can email him a text or call him. If you need to provide a list to him, the best thing is going to be to email him and then immediately text him to alert him of the email, or simply to email him and CC a text to him with the email.
There are options within most portals to add notes and make favorites, but some buyers don't necessarily want to see all the properties that they've favorited. Agents vary as far as how you should alert them. Some prefer that you use the client portal if there's an option to add notes or request showings directly in the portal. Not all agents operate in the same way, so even if you've purchased 10 homes, don't assume that your agent is going to be the same as the last 10 in how they operated."
Be Quick to See Searches
As I share in my article titled, "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search" under the heading "Be Quick to See Searches":
"The best homes at the best price tend to go the fastest after they hit the market, after the pictures arrive, after they go back on the market, and after substantive price reductions occur. By seeing properties very soon after they hit the market and getting in there fast, you'll have an edge over other prospective buyers who are taking a more lackadaisical approach such as those who check their searches every week and those who casually browse periodically. I've gotten property under contract the day it hits the market on at least one occasion, and in markets where "coming soon" isn't available typically, like Hampton Roads, the best way to do that is to stay on top of searches.
Related:
Sickness, Postponement, & Cancelation
If you or others in your home have contracted a readily contagious illness from contact/air & you'll be meeting Adam in person, please alert Adam in advance even if you want to proceed with in-person showings.
The fastest way to reach Adam in the event of sickness, postponement, or cancellation is typically via text, and it's never too late at night or too early in the morning to text Adam as he turns his phone to silent when sleeping.
While his area expertise as well as available MLS coverage options far surpass most agents, Adam has a large coverage area & sometimes travels 2 hours or more for buyers and sellers. With that in mind, shifting things or sharing about sickness with at least 2 hrs notice is greatly appreciated, though not required.
More
I share a number of additional helpful tips when requesting showings in the article titled "What to do After Your Agent Activates Your Search", i.e.:
Communicate Your Preferences to Adam
Have Your Financial Documentation in Order
Be Prepared for Offers
Expectations:
How Long Will it Take to Get Responses? Immediate to Weeks
Showing request responses can come back instantaneously (i.e. ShowingTime on a vacant home) days, or longer, depending on the circumstances, the agents involved, the occupants, & more. The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, i.e.:
The response time of the other agent(s)
Agent response time highly varies. You'd be surprised at what an agent will do if they don't think that their clients or the public will found out. Don't assume that since a listing agent has dozens of 5-star reviews and dozens of closings in the past year that they or their assistant will be quick to respond to showing inquiries. It's not uncommon at all for agents to not respond to all questions in a showing request if a buyer's agent doesn't have the questions that the listing agent is typically responding to using a template. Because of that, even when they respond, your agent may need to make further inquiries. Some listing agents (even high-volume ones) don't like to respond to practically anything via email or text, so your agent may need to play phone tag with them to get some answers to some basic questions. I've seen all those issues even in an agent with dozens of 5-star reviews and dozens of closings in the past year.
The response time of occupant(s)
Showing requests on vacant properties tend to come back faster than on occupied properties. I had one seller client I represented who I told about the importance of expeditious responses via my article on Showingtime & showing best practices for sellers who took what I said seriously, whose typical response time was likely under 2 minutes. Because I use Showingtime with sellers I represent, that means that buyers' agents could typically hear back within 2 minutes of their request for a showing. That said, that's not typical. It's not uncommon to hear back within an hour from an occupant, but some occupants take much longer than others, & sometimes agents won't engage in best practices on showings so the occupants are ill-equipped for scenarios where they are away from their phone for long periods of time, such as those who aren't allowed to have their phone while at work.
The time you reach out for requests
If you let your agent know about homes you want to see at 11 PM, even if they were to email agents immediately, they may not get a response until the next morning or later.
Your agent's availability
It's rare for an agent to only have one client. If someone does only have 1 client in Hampton Roads, that's probably not a very good agent. When you reach out to the agent, they may or may not be available to immediately request showings if you're looking to see properties in the near future. It's helpful to have an understanding as well of your agent's office hours. Some agents work 9-5, while others like myself might get a showing request at 9 PM for the next day and immediately look to make the request if available.
The timing of when you want to see properties
If your agent were to request 10 showings back to back a week out, they will likely need to make multiple modifications to showings based on at least 1 or a few properties going under contract between now and a week out. Your agent would be effectively doing you a disservice if they were to request 10 showings back to back a week out because 1+ schedules being rearranged can create a bad impression on a listing agent. Conversely, if you're requesting showings for the same day, your agent may or may not be available to show them to you that day, but they should be scrambling to make the requests (& a request for an agent fill in, if they are unavailable) asap if at all possible. If you request showings a month out, again, it's best for your agent to request showings much closer to the actual showing times.
Sometimes listing agents will use a showing service. This service is a way for your buyer's agent to make a request for a showing time that goes directly to the occupant or that gets immediately confirmed based on set times that the property is available. In an ideal scenario, the showing service used is Showingtime. I use that one myself when representing sellers. In other cases, they may be using a service that is much more problematic and less user friendly, creating constraints on the showing that could even throw off a showing sequence you're attempting needlessly due to the service's inflexible nature.
Even when showing services are used, it's a best practice to get confirmation on property availability directly from the agent. In some cases, a property will already be under contract with another buyer, the listing won't be updated yet on MLS, won't be updated yet on Showingtime, and the seller will want to continue showing the property with no notice to buyers/buyer's agents. In other cases, a property could have an active offer on it, with a strong likelihood of ratifying before the showing that has been requested & confirmed, and if your buyer's agent doesn't reach out to the listing agent, you and they may never know until it's too late.
Sadly, it's actually more common for listing agents who use showing services to be slow in responding to buyer agent inquiries than properties that don't rely on showing services. When a listing agent is unresponsive to your buyer's agent's inquiries, I suggest going ahead with the showing request via the showing service with your agent, as (while still possible) it would be unusual for an agent to both be unresponsive and to allow a showing request to be approved on a property already under contract. That said, you may want to see that property last if seeing properties in a geographical sequence that would make that easy just in case the agent responds at the last minute.
Related:
Minimum Notice Required for Showings - None to a Few Days
In some cases, a seller or other occupant may provide a minimum notice for showings. It's not uncommon for this notice to be 24 hrs on a property that is being rented out due to landlord tenant law in VA. In other cases, it could be no minimum notice, while in others, it could be an hour, 2 hrs, or even a few days.
Your buyer's agent may have some minimum notice as well, but some like myself don't. If it's your 1st showings, you should provide plenty of notice if you haven't established a buyer brokerage agreement yet so that there's time for that.
Different Approaches to Buyer Brokerage Agreements Before 1st Showings
Agents vary highly in how they approach buyer brokerage agreements, and there is variance over time and by state as laws and practices change. If your buyer's agent doesn't mention anything about a buyer brokerage agreement before arranging showings, be sure to ask them. Be sure to be familiar with the law on the subject as well, especially if you've never used one.
The agent sets buyer brokerage expectations before scheduling any showings & asks for your preferences on duration of buyer brokerage agreement, type of buyer brokerage agreement, & more (best approach). It's not uncommon at all for agents to only offer exclusive buyer brokerage agreements as the only type of allowed agreement. Some brokerages only allow exclusive agreements of their agents. Likewise, some brokerages have minimum tenure requirements.
There's no buyer brokerage agreement because you see homes directly with the listing agent(s) instead who shows the home to you as an unrepresented party. This approach has a high risk of buyer's remorse, but is completely legal. In VA, you should sign something stating that you are an unrepresented party, but won't need to until the time that you make an offer. There are also other ways to approach showings with listing agents, i.e. dual agency, where the listing agent seeks to represent both the seller and the buyer, but the dual agency approach is so fraught with problems that it's illegal in some states (while legal in VA) and prohibited by some brokerages (i.e. mine) without approval from management.
The agent shows up to the first of a sequence of showings with a buyer brokerage agreement that they will ask you to sign as a pressure sales tactic after never mentioning it before & after filling it out without any of your input and no flexiblity on any of the terms or the agreement type.
The agent shows up to the first of a sequence of showings asking for a "gentleman's agreement" with a handshake regarding a buyer brokerage agreement.
The agent never mentions anything about the buyer brokerage agreement, ignoring the law (in VA at least) regarding buyer brokerage agreements, but if they do that, it's important to wonder about the surprises you'll see when the time comes (i.e. undisclosed transaction coordinator fees to their company that you may be on the hook to pay).
Some Homes with No Showings Allowed
There are some Homes for Sale With No Showings Allowed. For instance, some auctions are like that. In some cases, these properties allow home inspections where the buyer can see the home after ratifying a contract with the seller, and in others, they don't. In cases where a home has no showings allowed and no inspections allowed, one of the few cases where I would recommend that buyers consider making an offer would be if an investor buyer is buying enough properties at steep enough discounts that if the property ends up being a tear down, the buyer wouldn't be financially devastated.
Some Homes with Tight Showing Windows
While not typical, there are some homes (especially auctions) where there may only be a single time each week or a single time period when the property may be shown before they take offers and accept one. In some of these cases multiple buyers/buyer's agents can go in at once, and in other cases, a buyer and their agent may go in one at a time on a 1st come, 1st serve basis during the window.
At other times, a listing agent may only be allowing 30-minute showings or even as low as 15-minute showings. Sometimes your buyer's agent will be able to arrange for a workaround.
Especially for vacant homes that have been on the market for a long time without a substantive price reduction recently, if the listing agent has too short of an established allowed time range in a showing service, your agent could ask for 2 or even 3 back to back times and reach out to the agent and let them know that it's for the same buyer.
If the property has an open house, arrive with your buyer's agent at the beginning of it.
Your agent can tell the listing agent that they would be fine with showing at the same time as someone else before and after their time slot and that others can do the same with them. Despite the disservice to the seller of not entertaining that notion if the agents before and after don't have a problem with it, some listing agents will reject the request without any inquiry with the other agents.
Especially if vacant, ask if you can show very early in the morning or later at night, even if a showing service or lockbox (and that you as an agent can see on MLS) is stating that the showings don't start until later or end at a certain time of day daily. I've started showings as early as 6 AM and finished showings after 9 PM. Agents showing in the dark are best equipped with powerful flashlights, i.e. the Immalent MS-18 100k lumen flashlight I have, one of the most powerful flashlights sold with a built-in fan due to the heat it generates.
Ask if you can take video and pictures. That way, you can look up things after the showing (i.e. HVAC & water heater age), and take another look at the home with a more careful eye.
Divide & conquer. If a home is vacant & unfurnished, there's generally more flexibility with buyers & agents scattering around a home. While very rare, & much more likely on higher-end than lower-end properties, some agents like myself may even have options to have more than 1 agent at the property to accomplish the same division of areas covered &/or items looked for, even on occupied houses.
Related:
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