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Let’s say you’re a real estate professional with seven listings and are busier than you thought you’d be. So, you’re considering outsourcing the showing scheduling process so you can focus on all the things you want to do to market your listings.

With all that on your plate, you may feel like you don’t have time even to research the various appointment center services available and who offers what, so you may go with what someone else in your office uses. That can be a winning strategy – a referral from someone you know.

You’ll still need to educate yourself on pricing plans, levels of service, hours of service, reports, seller interaction, etc., but all in all you’re ready to get started.

Life of the Listing

One common program vendors offer is called Life of the Listing, meaning you can pay one price for a listing, and the service will schedule showings on that listing until you sell it. Sounds good compared to a program that lasts for one year.

But in truth, in today’s market, with the average number of days on market hovering around four months*, it makes such programs seem suspect. You’d be paying too much if your listing sold in three months.

Pay as You Go

An alternative is to pay for the service month by month until your listing sells. That way, if you sell it in three months, you’re not pre-paying for services you’re not using.

Compare apples to apples

So when you evaluate different pricing plans, different vendors and what level of service you’ll receive – Is feedback included? How late are they open? Can you confirm appointments via text? Do they brand confirmation emails with your photo & your company logo? – be sure to make time to do a proper comparison.

Pay for exactly what you need to sell your listings quickly and efficiently.

* In its ‘Monthly Housing Summary’ report released Jan. 24, 2013, Realtor.com surveyed 146 markets in the U.S. to arrive at the ‘Median Age of Inventory’ of 111 days, or approximately 3.7 months.

Related: The Difference Between ‘Days on Market’ & ‘Cumulative Days on Market’


Do you have the market statistics you need at your fingertips?
If you’re a real estate professional and belong to an MLS that subscribes* to MarketStats by ShowingTime, you already have access to useful reports and charts for every situation.

For MLS and association staff who need to quickly generate reports and charts that summarize local market activity, MarketStats by ShowingTime can help. Contact us for more information.

*MLSs and associations subscribe to MarketStats by ShowingTime to provide ready-made statistical tools for members. MarketStats is currently sold only to MLSs or associations.