No Reason for Seller to Skip Vacation

Fancy trips to Hawaii. Getaways to Mexico. Cruises in the Caribbean.

For years, anxious home sellers have needlessly forfeited their bookings for such vacations on the basis that they feared being absent when their properties were on the market.

“I don’t see any reason to put off a summer vacation because your house is for sale,” said Jim Clifford, an ERA Realty broker-owner who has been in real estate since 1973.

Granted, it was once tough for home sellers to deal with potential offers for their properties when they were traveling far from home.

But improvements in international phone service, the advent of fax machines and overnight delivery companies have lowered the barriers to rapid communication in the initial home sale and negotiation process, said Ruth Cascone, an agent for Coldwell Banker.

“We can now contact the sellers by fax or telephone just as fast when they’re away on vacation as when they’re home,” Cascone said.

And overnight services are an excellent way to deliver signatures on home-sale documents, she notes. It’s essential, of course, to leave a detailed itinerary so your agent can reach you during vacation. Also, it’s usually wise to be present for the final closing of a sale.

Under what circumstances do homeowners give up long-planned vacations because they have property on the market? It typically happens when the need to move is unexpected, perhaps because of a surprise job transfer or other career transition.

In addition, some sellers surrender vacation plans when it takes longer than they expected to sell a property. They would prefer to hang back to be sure their abode is secure during the marketing process, a period when prospects are coming through.

Of course, there are no guarantees that a home or its contents will be fully protected from intruders at any time.

Yet security problems that are directly related to the marketing of a home are still a rarity in this era, according to Clifford. Why? Because most agents now do more pre-screening of buyers than they did in the past.

“There are fewer strangers just jumping in the car with an agent to go out and see a bunch of homes. The agents know the buyers before they go out,” he said.

Before a shopping expedition, prospective buyers now spend more time in the office of a real estate agent (or mortgage lender) proving their financial capability to make a purchase. Many also spend time with the agent previewing properties by computer or other means.

Still, if you’re planning to be in Casablanca when your home is on the market, you may want to arrange for “house-sitters” to come in and mind the place in your absence.

If you know of no friends or relatives who would like to do this, you can engage house-sitters through businesses in that field. Many house-sitters are young couples seeking to save on housing costs to help buy homes of their own, Clifford says.

Moving valuables out of a home while it’s on the market is a prudent plan for all home sellers, including those heading out on vacation. The most important items to store elsewhere include precious jewelry, silver, works of art and other portable valuables, such as laptop computers.

Here are three other pointers for those seeking to sell during the height of the vacation season between now and Labor Day:

* Consider the pluses of synchronizing your home sale and vacation. “I almost think it’s a great idea for people to go on vacation and market a house at the same time, if they have an agent they trust,” said Cascone.

If you are careful in laying plans ahead of time for the maintenance and security of your property, and your listing agent is keeping a close eye on it, you can head for a leisurely vacation without worry.

Furthermore, by coordinating the two events, you’re spared the disruption of everyday life that inevitably accompanies home showings. You won’t have to be as preoccupied about daily house cleanings. Nor will you need to make special arrangements to be absent (on short notice) when your property is shown, as most listing agents prefer.

* Make sure you know about your agent’s plans for summer vacations. Perhaps you have no intention of heading for Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean or anywhere else this summer. Instead, maybe you are deliberately planning to stay home to resolve an important housing transition.

Then, well before you sign a listing agreement with a prospective agent, ask about your agent’s summer plans. “An agent who is going away for an extended time--more than three or four days--should tell the client at the time of the listing,” said Clifford, the ERA broker-owner.

If a listing agent you’re considering is planning a lengthy trip during your key marketing period, you may not wish to engage that agent, especially if the back-up agent she’s proposing as her fill-in lacks clear financial incentives to market your place effectively, Clifford said.

Knowing the problems that long vacations can pose for their clients, many agents restrict themselves to three-day weekends during the summer season.

Longer trips are reserved for the holiday period, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, when the overall market is typically slower.

* Don’t fret if your home doesn’t sell during June or July.

As popular vacation months, June and July may be somewhat slower selling seasons than are spring or fall months, because so many would-be buyers are more preoccupied with travel and other leisure plans during the summer.

August is also a prime month for vacationing. Yet, in addition, August is a strong home-sales month in many communities.

Why? Because numerous buyers, including procrastinators, are transformed into serious house-hunters in August, based on an 11th-hour desire to move before they start a new job in September or their children must enter a new school.

“Those who don’t sell in the early summer shouldn’t panic. August is ahead,” Clifford said.

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Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.