Showings and safety
Who you are letting in, how access codes are released, and the practical precautions that matter when you are selling without an agent.
While you are live · 5 min read · reviewed
Selling yourself means you are the one opening the door
This is the part of a private sale that people think about least and should think about most. With an agent, a stranger's first contact is with a licensed professional who has met them. Without one, it is with you, at your home, often alone.
None of this is a reason not to sell your own home. It is a reason to set your rules before the first request arrives rather than deciding in the moment, when saying no to someone standing on your step is much harder.
Decide your verification bar in advance
You can require a verified phone or email before a showing is approved, and you can require a mortgage pre-approval or proof of funds. Both are settings, and both are normal. An agent asking a buyer for a pre-approval before a showing is routine; you asking is the same request.
A visitor who will not verify a phone number is telling you something. You are allowed to decline, and the product will send a reason on your behalf so you do not have to write it.
- Approve showings only for times you have actually blocked out.
- Have someone else in the house, or nearby, for a first visit.
- Put away anything with your name, your bank, or your schedule on it. A scanner and a phone can photograph a lot in ten minutes.
- Keep medication out of the bathroom cabinet. It is the single most searched place during a viewing.
How access codes are handled
If you use a lockbox or a smart lock, the code is stored encrypted and is never shown on a page by default, not to you at a glance, not to a broker reviewing your listing, and not in an email or calendar invite.
A code is released only to a confirmed visitor, only inside a window around their appointment, and only after they acknowledge it. Every release is recorded with who saw it and when. If you change a code, the old one stops working for everyone immediately.
Feedback is worth asking for
After a showing you can request feedback, and most visitors give it. It is the cheapest market information you will get: three people saying the kitchen feels dark is more actionable than a month of no offers.
Treat it as data about the home rather than about you. Some of it will be wrong, and the pattern across several visits is what matters.