With relocation buyers - I've shown 12 homes in one day... It's alot but this type of buyer ( who has to choose a home in 2 days!) is very motivated.  I try to simplify the process by sending homes in advance when possible, homes homes in "blocks" - the first three homes are in the ___ neighborhood..  the next four homes are in _______ town.  I also hand them a pen, blank sheet of paper for each listing and as we drive between houses - we talk.. Is it on the short list? Why? Why not? Does it have a feature you really love?  really hate?  what is it?

Based on everything we've seen ( starting at house #2) which is your favorite?Next based on 3 houses, rank them... Husband and wife each discuss why they chose the ranking... hopefully by the end of 12 houses, I have a short list of 4-5 to revisit.. we rank again.. have a first and second choice  - a top price or walkaway price - I think this kind of dialogue keeps buyers engaged and feeling like they have control of the process

31 showings in one day but to 6 different buyers.  No confusion on the buyers' part.  For me, well..... :)

Hi Debbie Reynolds 

Early in my real estate career, I had an out of town buyer and we looked at 35 properties in one day.  It was the bottom of our market, and she was determined to find something dirt cheap.  I have never been so exhausted with a buyer.  Like many have said, I will not do it again.  Six to eight in one day is max.  Great question to ask!

Hi, rarely do I deal with buyers. but my system for showings is about 15 to 18 properties in the first cycle. 5 hours total.

simple, quick, effective.

they follow me on this :

My record, and I'm not proud of it, was 25 homes! And yes the buyer was confused! But they were in town for a "power buying trip" and selected one. I was brain dead at the end, but they bought a home and closed. Now, the absolute max I will do is 12, but that is for out of towners who don't know what part of Charlotte they want to live in. I think after 8 homes, buyers start getting really confused!

I have scheduled 12 before and informed the buyers that we would break after the first 5 and then regroup.  They were from out of state and only had a weekend to find something and make any offer.  After about 8, they were done and decided to put in an offer on the first one we saw.  It was accepted and they moved in a month and a half later.  I try to limit to 5 per buyer in a day.

Early on in my career I volunteered to "assist" a fellow agent with showings.  I showed a relo client 15 homes all over the County.  It was exhausting.  The client "wanted a pool" in a certain price range so that's what we viewed.  I know better now to vet clients more thoroughly and really find out what their hot buttons are.  5 to 6 homes per day is a reasonable number of homes to view with one client.  After the 6th home they typically can't remember what the first one looked like!  I also like them to rate the homes after we viewed them on a scale of 1 to 10.  If they are a couple, I ask each on to rate the home and then ask them what would it take to make this home a 9 or 10?  Best way to get a couple communicating their likes and dislikes.

It all depends on the customers.  If they are local and I will easily be able to schedule more showings, I like to keep at 5 or so.  When they are out of towners, as Cindy stated, it's House Hunters Marathon time.

I scheduled 7 one day for a customer.  She was quite upset because as she put it, she was high energy.  I pulled 5 more listings while we were on the road and ended up taking her back to three of them because she couldn't remember them.  Yes, high energy she was but she didn't count on the burn out that she encountered.  I did sell her a house but it was exhausting and confusing for everyone involved!

With out of towners who are in for a weekend...I've shown up to 12 homes in a day. Yes, the buyer was confused, and I was tired!

I explain to the Buyer in advance I understand how motivated they are to find the right home, but recommend we tour no more than 5 in one day.  I ask them to trust me when I say once we go over 5, they begin to punish themselves with not properly remembering and comparing the homes as to which one fits their desires the most.  I explain Househunting should be a rewarding joyful experience.  When they tour too many in a day, Househunting can become a painful confusing experience.  I ask them to work with me to stay out of the burnout zone.

This usually happens with out of town buyers.  I try not to show more than 6 at one time--the buyers do get the features confused.  I think the most I showed in one day was ten. Phew!

I once showed Buyers around 70 homes. They were looking for homes between $300,000 to $1,000,000. It took three days to do this. On one occasion, the wife said "Oh, there's one for rent. Write down the phone number."

We finally found a house they liked. It was a new build and the price was reduced several times. They wanted to offer about 70% of asking price. When I did not respond quickly enough, they asked for a release of my Buyer Broker Agreement. They then bought a home I had showed them.

I am now too busy to show homes for Buyers I do not trust.

I am not sure but I think it is close to 40.  The client was difficult and ultimatley did not buy.

I learned to show a couple of homes then ask what they liked about the homes and if it met their expections then weed out all that do not match and show only the ones that do.

12 homes.  But I like the Cynthia Larsen's idea of making the buyer select their favorite after each home to elevoate confusion.

At an inspection a few years ago I heard the husband ask his wife "Are you shure this is the one we picked?"

I had to think, too many viewings.

At an inspection a few years ago I heard the husband ask his wife "Are you shure this is the one we picked?"

I had to think, too many viewings.

21 showings in one day.  I printed out MLS sheets for the buyers they took notes and made an offer the next day.  They were organized and knew what they wanted.  It could have gone either way. 

It depends on the buyer/client, however, the most I did was eleven for an investor that yielded one offer. For most buyers, I use Listing Book to select the top 5 properties that meet the clients most essential criteria from the lowest price to highest price.

I work with a lot of buyers who are relocating from out of state and usually only have a couple of days to shop, so I frequently have to show up to a dozen houses in a day and drive a hundred (or more) miles in the process, but there's a lot that goes into planning the tour ahead of time.  I do an in-depth interview with the buyers first and then research the listings thoroughly to make sure they fit the list of "must haves" ... not just "wants." My record sits at 26 houses in one day with the same buyer, but that was when I first started.  I will still schedule up to 12, but some can tolerate it better than others.  It's time to call it a day when they get slack-jawed and stop blinking from information overload!

I just had this debate with a colleague. She showed 11 to a buyer in one afternoon. I've always felt this excessive, and thought the buyer would be confused. As it turns out, they created a short list (as previously mentioned, notes are evidently important), they viewed the short list for second showings the following day and got an offer accepted. Currently in contract after 1 week. I'm sure there are varying circumstances and motivation plays a big part, but it definitely made me re-think my process.

I don't like to do more than 5 or 6 in any given day. Fortunately, our market is small and its rare to find that many properties that are enough alike to show. Buyers who are experienced, such as relo buyers, do better since they often know the drill and need to make a decision almost on the spot. Having good photos to remember the properties and ranking them as you work through them are all good ideas. I often add properties as I work with buyers and get to know their likes and dislikes. I have often sold a buyer a house that wasn't on their original list gleaned from the Internet because I try to listen to what is important to them.

The most I have shown in one day is 12. Only to find out the buyers were totally confused. The most I will schedule is 5. Just last week I drove over 80 miles just to show 4 listings. At the end of that afternoon we knew which home to buy. By the next day it was under contract. We are moving to closing in the first week of March. So I would say no more than 4 showing per day per client. 

I showed a buyer 8 homes in one day. They were looking for something very specific and I ruled out a bunch of homes they had selected. They wanted to see them anyway so I took 'em. The next day they notified me they were going to look for another agent. Lesson learned. I always try to find out buyer's motivation and will show as many homes as it takes as long as they are going to buy. Otherwise, you get 2-3 max depending on my mood. :)

I figure maximum showings/day by the hours including travel time. 3 or 4 hours is usually comfortable for people and when it runs to 6+ hours it becomes unproductive. So depending of what parts of the island they want to tour (I'm on Kauai) I usually show a maximum of 6 or 7.

59 homes in 3 days is my record and I only did that because they buyers insisted on seeing everything up to their maximum price. I showed them the best first and left the dregs for the end of each day. They bought the first house I showed them, and they still love it 6 years later.

I've managed to do 12 in a day and I think the confusion does come in on both sides but I have the buyer play a part. I give them a checklist for each house and have them play the keep up game. If they are showing interest I may snap pics at each house to email them later. To negate some of that I do previews for some buyers and send video that usually saves me a showing at most houses

Pre qualification is not limited to financial ability. Pre qualify what they are looking for in their new home and then what they need.  Show them more than 5 homes and you have created so much confusion that they won't buy any. Also you didn't do your job and listen to their wishes. After three you will know if you are on the right track from the feedback. If the feedback is not as favorable as you wish for, then take a break, buy them lunch or coffee, talk further and reschedule the remainder of your day.  Set up 2 or three new properties  considering the new information you gathered. Work smarter, not harder.

One of our clients had a gentleman from out of town who wanted to buy a winery.  She was out with him for 6 hours driving long distances, and the showings are long by the time you check out the acreage and facilities, and yes he was so confused that he refused to see anymore...LOL A

In our commercial real estate practice, we would suggest they allow 3 days for viewing properties, and the maximum we showed was 5, the ideal is 3.  Again in Los Angeles, a 5 mile trip may take 45 minutes to get to.  They were pretty full after 3, and if we did 5 we broke it up with lunch together.  A

thats an interesting post. I think three buyers in one day and 1 to 5 homes shown to each client. Maybe I should remember this for ROI. I do know I showed homes to one client for almost 2 years...ggggrrrr. then they moved out of the area.. I am a no pressure broker.. I hate being pushed like a used car salesman..lol.

I just showed 15 to an out of town buyer one day, and then 5 more the next morning.  I find that no matter how energetic they are, after 6 or 7 houses most people get confused.  I give them their printouts and a pen, and ask them to takes notes and photos as we go. Then we sit down as soon as we're done and go through them right away.  That way they eliminate on the spot and can narrow it down to one or two.

Most of my clients only see around 6. People off my website often just only 1. My invester clients we often see 10 or more.

Thirteen, and there is no confusion. After showing the second home on the list, I ask the buyer to pick their favorite of the two. The loser gets the title of "runner up". Then we go see the next house, same drill. At the end of the day, there is ony one "winner" and one "runner up". Those are the only two homes that need to be remembered because the others will no longer compare.

Each buyer is different. And their motivation and deadlines play in as well. Some buyers can only handle 2 or 3 per outing. Some buyers have a high threshold, high energy level, and high motivation level too and can view 10 to 15 per outing.

8 but they were all spread out. I try to limit to 6, otherwise it is just too confusing.

If you were a car salesperson, all the choices would be on one lot...

Relocation buyers... I showed 81 properties in a long weekend...  so technically, that's 27 hours per day.

I supplied print-outs for each home, with room for notes.... they kept good notes... but not only were they bleary-eyed and confused.... so was I.  the houses all blurred together by the end of day 1... by day 3, I don't think we remembered our own names.

Lucky for me they did buy a house... the third one we saw.  But first, they had to see all the areas, all around Chicagoland, before they recognized that the third house was the one they wanted.

While I would say the norm we usually narrow the list down to 5 an under but I once did 21 in one day.  I had them write all their notes on the back of the listing sheets and they actually managed to keep fairly good track.  I was confused by the end of the day and we were all tired but we did find them their dream home and they are still thrilled to this day, so it was a success.

When I relocated from Chicago to Atlanta in 1993, my intrepid agent, Greta, organized 87 homes over 3 days from intown to Lake Lanier - at my request!  It was great, and I stayed focused - quickly rejecting some and lingering over others, and taking great notes.  I would up with 1-2 favorites in each of three school districts - but the one I eventually bought was not on our initial group - we drove past it and she was able to set up a showing for me.  I keep that in mind now that I'm a Realtor!

18 homes to the same buyer, 19 total in a day to three different buyers.. but if you really count and keep up with how many each buyer looks at before they purchase I have the record for my area im sure, 175 to one family before closing, they wrote 5 offers before the 6th offer/property was accepted.. I made - .19 cents per hour Im sure.. but Great family and made a customer for life..

I condition the client before we go out to pick their top 5 explaining that after 5, details tend to get mixed up in the memory.  If a 6th is very nearby, I'll do six.

15 to out of town buyers.  I hate doing that because, at the end of the day, they don't want any of them. 

21 for one client but it was very confusing to them.  I normally only show 8 to 12 in one day as they all get confused at over 8.  But sometimes they really don't know what they want and need to see the entire area.  With a population of 1 million there are 6000 homes to choose from.

The maximum I showed was 18 to out of state buyers that were just here for one day to look.  Interestingly enough, they fell in love with the very last home we viewed and purchased it.  I prefer to show no more than 6 to 8 as a norm in a single day - they all start to run together and the buyers typically get very confused.

Hi Debbie! Like Cindy, I've shown up to a dozen in one day with out of towners but I broke it down into 6 in the morning, take a break, 6 in the afternoon. Typically I show no more than 6 at a time (per day) to a client.

I have shown 12 to a buyer before (special circumstances) but as others have said, I highly recommend 5-6 as their max/day -- they do start confusing the homes in their minds.  =}

I would love to talk to any of you about Chicago suburb (far west) referrals.  Please call me anytime!! 

The showing limit I impose is eight however once we get to six is when most customers begin to mix and match to create their perfect home which as we all know, does not exist. 

Six

As an agent I did 5 and it wasn't planned but I went with it.  As a buyer, to keep the confusion down, I always took pictures.  Yes the listings had them, but I took pictures of things I really wanted to see and remember that aren't always picture worthy of the MLS.  I make that suggestion to my clients when I show a home.

I showed 17 houses  the day after we lost a house to another bidder. I kept telling him to keep notes because he would forget. He was confused but one house was far greater than the rest and we got it! I was zonked!

I have shown about 15 before.  The buyers got confused, but they didn't believe me when I told them they would.  They had to see for themselves.  I try to keep it down to between 6-8 max now per buyer.

Im with several others here. Whenever I show more than 8 homes we are always rotating the top 3. In the end, they will never remember who was who. 

I tell buyers they should not want to see more than 6, even the out of towners. If O let them put together a want list of 12, they will voluntarily stop at 6 and collapse. Buy the we may not have seen the best ones!

I had an out of town couple who looked at 17 homes in one day.  They did end up purchasing one, though.

I had an out of town couple who looked at 17 homes in one day.  They did end up purchasing one, though.

Based upon the comments, I don't think I have anything to complain about at 12. I have shown 60 houses to two different buyers, and they were back to back. The second buyer bought the first house she looked at #1 and #60.

When I was selling homes and had the inventory...the max was about 10 homes.  I tried to narrow their search via feeback from questions I asked them prior to setting showings.  I do not think it is very fair to the buyer and even the sellers to spend so little time on each home. 

We are lucky living in a northern Maine rural market. So many outside buyers and they stay right where they are. One after another video is viewed, filtering the process. So all those miles on our Jeep are avoided with video. I check the platform, videos and can see where 116 views of this one happened last night. The busiest time for "showings" according to the logs is 10:30 at night. Help yourself happens with video.

I think I maxed out at 15 once, but I had very experienced home buyers so they didn't get confused. But normally, if we do more than 8 homes at a time, most buyers start mixing them up in their heads.

Debbie Reynolds  I think it was with 3 different buyers and it was about 17. However, I do not think they got confused - we picked up best 2 for each of them and revisited those homes.

I think I've shown 8 as the most in one day. This particular buyer didn't get confused. She was a pretty amazing person overall. I did finally end up selling her a home, but it was one she found in a location where I wouldn't have looked for her. 

When I first started out, a family (I think it was 3 generations of family)wanted to see 22 homes over a 2-day weekend.  I think we ended up seeing about half of them and then I bever heard from them again.  They didn't have a phone or email.  They were from out of town.

Geez, I am thinking about 9 and yes they did, however, I gave them Client Copies and a pen and asked them to write down as we left a home what they thought about that home.  It helped keep their minds clutter free, but they still got overwhelmed.

17, but they were all condos and town homes.  Found one they liked made an offer, but their reasoning and bottom line did not match the reasoning of the seller and her bottom line .  Many showings of different homes and offers not accepted , they took a break.  When I went to check on them beginning of this year, they told me they had moved to Arizona, and forgot to tell me.  

I have shown 12 but that is my limit.  I have learned that after a while the houses start to look the same to buyers and they get overwhelmed.  This number works for me and has for my buyers.

Working with out of town buyer . There was  6 houses shown at one day and 12 houses on next day. We all were so tired, but we kept track and notes after each property we saw. So after all we know what houses we will revisit and keep on the list.  I would say to show 5-6 properties per day is normal.  

I haven't done this often however, I had a client coming in from out of town that only had one day to find a home.  They were unfamiliar with the area and different sub-divisions so we needed to make a good plan to see a lot.  We saw 20 homes!  What made it work was the spreasheet that was prepared, the time taken to map out the properties correctly and starting early.  We looked at 10 in the morning, lunch break and then 10 in the afternoon.  All in all it went very well and they found the perfect home for them.  Whew!

For both sales and rental I develope an Intake that allows me to customize a search based on their exact needs- If they cant find a home in 6-8 places (rentals 3-4) then I usually pass on the customer unless Im getting a retainer- Showing 30 homes is insane to me- in one day? seriously? 86 in a weekend? wow you guys earned your money on that deal.

Never really counted. I try to limit to 4-6 and explain beforehand the reason. After 2-3, they start saying "you were right...

When newer and nothing else to do, probably 10-12 a few times.

As I recall it was a relocation couple from back east and we saw 17 homes in one day and 18 the next. No confusion as we had MLS sheets and photos of each and they were all fairly different

It is a rare buyer that can keep more than 5 homes straight....I mean really straight.

I do not like to show more than 12 homes a day and if they are older folks, than half of that. 

I start with only an "A" list the first day and "B" list after that so it is downhill from that.  The more they look, the farther it is from the criteria.

Eve

15 Debbie, all houses. Not my choice, this couple had moved 3 times in 5 years because of work promotions.

Debbie Reynolds ~ 5 is the max for me... I show more than 5 homes in a day and I think it is counter-intuitive

We have alot of out of town buyers in our market who only have a short time to find their home.  12 properties was my max.  This was in the summertime when foreclosures were rampant.  So from airconditioned car, to hot and humid outdoors and into hotter, non air conditioned house.  Not fun for anyone, but they did find a home.  I now limit to no more than 6 in a day unless absolutely necessary.  Each listing detail for the client has the photo detail as well, to help differenciate.  I encourage note taking and a rating on each property, so that at the end of the day, we pick the top 3 and either re visit, make an offer or move on.

I think about 12 or 14 to relo buyers.  Normally 5 to 7 for one buyer.

12 and YES!    In my first year...I don't do anymore than 6 now and only to out of area buyers.

I remember showing about 11 homes to one buyer, them wanting to write on one, then double checking the market and going to show them 4 more...they wrote on one of the four. It was about a 12 hour day with them. Worth it. They since sold that and bought another home with me.

The most I've ever shown was 15 condos.  All were in close proximity and the buyers lost track of which unit was which after the first 5 condos.

Debbie, my limit was 10 homes in one day as a rookie agent, but buyers get confused and mixed up at what they saw after the 5th home. Therefore, I won't show them more than 5 on any one day. Depending on how picky the buyers are, it may take several days to get them under contract.

Every client is different ... some like a 1 house per day (not my choice) ... and others want to cram in as much as possible (my preference).  But before we start out I ask the buyers to drive by the properties they are not sure of and determine if the house meets their expectations for the exterior curb appeal as well as the surrounding area (at least 3 blocks around the subject property) ... I call it my bulls-eye approach.  Once we have the desired list I schedule in tour fashion with an MLS Sheet with room for taking notes, Assessor's data and supporting documents for each property (just in case we write on the spot). Then on our first time out I tell them about my little game which goes like this: You just flew in from California and have one day to shop ... so when we go inside a house I need you (individually) to tell me if "you can see yourself living in the house" -- answers must be yes or no (no maybe). If one of the 2 says no ... it's a no. If they both say yes, then my next part of the game is a qualifying question (again individually) ... How would you rate this property for LOCATION, Condition, PRICE, and the needs of YOU!  Rate from 1 to 10 ... with 10 meaning "I absolutely LOVE this house" or 1 "not".  Once they have rated the house I ask specific questions about what they liked or didn't like so I can pass that on to the Listing Agent to share with their Seller.  It makes for great conversation and once we find a house rated over "7" it becomes the one to beat. At the end of the day we have our TOP PICK ... rarely, but on occasion we have a tie or 3 that just really are awesome ... so we go the following day to determine the winner ... then we write an offer.  Been doing this for 21 years .. and it works great for me.  Oh yea, you asked how many houses in one day ... the most I have done in one day with one client is 21. Very exhausting, but we wrote an offer at the end of the day.  Now that's determination on the buyer's part. (sorry my long-windedness ... I could have made this a blog!) LOL

No more than 5 or 6 per buyer depending on proximity... as many buyers as I can fit into a day!