Why Do Agents Leave My Lights On?

Selling your house is usually an exciting time. You’re looking forward to your next chapter in life and ready to move on. Super exciting!

Coming clean, here are a few things about selling a house that are, well, irritating, but a good idea.

Last-minute appointment requests at dinner time.

I know, I know. I like to eat dinner, too.

But when it gets dark at 7 pm, dinner time is the last ray of light for an interested buyer to see a home. You should by all means, delay dinner and let them come.

Another is agents arriving late for their appointment.

I hate being late. The most common reason an agent is a few minutes late is that it is hard to project how long a buyer will take to walk through a home they’re considering purchasing.

If the buyer took a bit longer than anticipated viewing the house before yours, the agent might be a few minutes late. In our showing app, we can notify the seller that we are running a few minutes behind.

Agents may not be able to help it, but they can be courteous and let a seller know they’re running behind. And sellers should give 10 minutes latitude on either side of the scheduled appointment, allowing some margin.
AND…the most common complaint I receive from my sellers?

The agent left all the lights on.

It’s not usually carelessness, I promise. I’ve done it, too.

Proper lighting can make or break a showing, so we appreciate it when a seller turns on the lights before we arrive.

When I’m showing several houses in a row, sometimes it’s hard to remember which lights the seller left on and which ones were off when I arrived.

It is especially tricky to keep track of when the buyers, in their enthusiasm, go ahead of you into different rooms and start flipping on light switches themselves.

The photo above is of a home I sold in downtown Rochester. This home would show entirely different if the lights were off when we arrived.

Proper lighting makes a difference in a showing. The lighted walkway and pool area is a perfect example of why we leave them on.

Another reason is that it’s very easy for an agent to have accidentally turned the pool light on instead of the porch light. Not knowing whether they accidentally flipped the wrong switch presents the dilemma.

Should they turn both lights off when they leave or leave them on in case they have another showing right behind them?

Since agents have no way of knowing whether or not there is another showing behind them, they should err on the side of caution and leave the lights on.

There could also be safety issues such as trip and fall hazards if the patio has uneven stone or brick pavers, so leaving the lights on is a better decision for the seller.

Then sometimes the home is vacant and there’s no one returning to turn the lights off. That is carelessness. That, I agree, is irritating.