How much is too much? Do buyers have a limit on the amount of homes they see?

This past weekend I spent 5 hours showing one client 13 homes. Any agents initial reaction to this, as would mine, would be that this is simply too many homes to see in one day.

Today I showed another client one home for which they are submitting an offer. Is this too few?

There is no set number for a buyer, though many agents will try to set a limit. I remember back when I first started in real estate an old as in "long time in the business" agent tell me that she will only show buyers three homes and they have to choose one of those. She will not waste her time showing them any more than that. And this was at a time when the internet listings were just starting to launch so it was not like you could see more on-line.

Her point was well taken, though most might have missed it. So what was her point? I am a sellers agent and can not waste my time with buyers. Yet there she was forcing buyers to choose a house.

My Buyer Agents do not impose limits on buyers though we will always suggest that a buyer see no more than 6 homes in a day. Why? Though I can show (depending on the location) about 20 homes a day, a buyers needs to emotionally invest themselves in each house shown to them. This is an extremely stressful and draining process. To do this over and over the average buyer will simply become burnt out after 6 homes.

So 13 homes. Why would I make it a point to show so many homes to one buyer in one day? Because no two buyers are the same. This particular buyer must find the right home in only a few days. I, as a Professional Buyers Agent, must be assured that this buyer sees every possible home that meets their needs. Not every home that is listed, just the ones that match 90 percent of what they want.

In order to make sure that the stress from this process does not cloud their judgment, I need to put in place a system for them  to evaluate each home so that they can go back and review these evaluations later with a clear and fresh mind. Then once they narrow their list down, we can go back and look at just a couple of these same homes spending more time in each and investing themselves emotionally in them.

Once they are finished, they will have successfully found the RIGHT home for them in a very short time frame. This is a process that I use frequently on out of state buyers that may be relocating to our area and they do not have months to find a home, but perhaps just a few days.

We then swing the spectrum to my other buyers. Here this couple looked at one specific home and made their decision to pursue it. What is the difference. Well typically I would never allow someone to pursue a home after just seeing one home, but not all buyers are the same. In this case I have a buyer that is well acquainted with the area, have been focusing on a specific neighborhood and saw the right home be put up for sale. They are not interested in other neighborhoods and if this house does not pan out, they do not want to look at others, but rather wait until the next one in this neighborhood is put on the market.

So when you are getting ready to look at homes and you are interviewing the agents you will be hiring as your Buyers Agent, be sure you ask them...How many homes are you willing to show me?

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