Showings, safety & serious buyers

Selling by owner means you are the showing service. That's workable — thousands of owners do it — but it deserves the same discipline a brokerage would bring: screen first, show safely, and never negotiate in your hallway.

Screen before you schedule

Every showing costs you an evening and opens your home to a stranger, so qualify first — politely and without apology:

• Financing buyers: ask for a lender pre-approval letter (not just pre-qualification) before confirming a time. Serious buyers have one and expect to be asked.
• Cash buyers: a proof-of-funds letter or recent statement. “Cash” without paper is a browsing pass, not an appointment.
• Get a full name and mobile number, and confirm by text — it filters casual traffic and gives you a record of who was in your home and when.

Show safely

• Never show alone if you can avoid it; if you must, have someone you trust on the phone and aware of the appointment window.
• Walk behind visitors, not in front; let them enter rooms first.
• Lock away medications, keys, mail, and anything with your personal data. Small valuables leave the house for the listing period, not just the showing.
• Daylight hours whenever possible; exterior lights on and paths clear when it isn't.
• Trust your read. You can end a showing early. “I have another commitment” requires no further explanation.

Open houses, if you run one

A sign-in sheet (name + mobile) is standard and expected — safety and follow-up in one step. Two hours is plenty. A second person in the house is the single best open-house safety measure there is.

Don't negotiate in the hallway

Buyers will float numbers mid-showing — “would you take…?” — because answers given on the spot favor them. Have a standard reply: “Put it in writing and I'll respond within a day.”It keeps every offer comparable, keeps emotion out of your counters, and signals you're running a process, not hoping for a miracle.