Any real estate agent who’s taken a buyer on a multiple-home tour knows how tedious it can be to plan. Scheduling each showing separately, while also strategizing which home to see first, is a time-consuming exercise that takes up valuable time that can be spent on other tasks.
ShowingTime has made the process easier and less time consuming with ShowingCart®
ShowingCart is a scheduling tool that enables agents to point, click and create a buyer’s tour from their desktops with ease and simplicity. In fact, creating Buyer’s Tours with ShowingCart enabled associate broker Steve Farmer of Exit First Realty in Virginia to overcome one of his biggest challenges – creating buyer’s tours – after he became ShowingTime customer in November 2015.
“[It’s] cut my time setting up a five-house tour from a frustrating 45 minutes of back and forth and redoing the schedule down to a simple few minutes,” Farmer said.
The following is a quick look at how to schedule showings using ShowingCart, which can be scheduled through ShowingTime or your MLS but can currently only be done on a desktop.*
Getting Started
Users can access ShowingCart through their ShowingTime account on the main menu.
- Authenticate into ShowingTime through your MLS or by logging in to your account through showingtime.com
- Click on the “Showings” category from the side menu and select “ShowingCart”
- Choose a date and name your tour
- Click “Add To My Tours”
Adding Listings
You can add listings and other stops to your buyer’s tour by selecting MLS IDs, or by clicking the “Add Listing Stop” button. To show your buyers other points of interests in the area, such as schools, parks and other non-listing stops, click the “Add Other Stop” button.
You can also add listings to your tour that don’t have ShowingTime activated, although those appointment requests need to be managed on your own outside of ShowingTime.
Organization
You can organize your buyer’s tour in three different ways:
- SmartRoute: This option automatically sorts your stops in the most logical order, choosing the best route for you. It will use your first stop as the starting point and organize the rest based on driving time and distance.
- By Appointment Time: This option organizes all showings based on time, as long as they have already been confirmed.
- Drag & Drop: Manually organize the route according to your preferences.
Choosing Appointment Times
Once you have your listings and stops in place, you can request all the appointments with one click. ShowingTime will calculate approximate driving distances between each point, which will help when scheduling appointment times. Each listing is also color coordinated to help show you the current availability for each listing.
More Features
Buyer’s Tours with ShowingCart also includes a point-to-point map, turn-by-turn directions and the option to print your buyer’s tour. Plus, a buyer’s version of the tour will be shared with your clients in Home by ShowingTime as long as you have associated the buyer with the tour, so they, too, have everything at their fingertips.
To learn more about ShowingTime, request a demo or ask your MLS.
*Although buyer’s tours can be accessed from the ShowingTime mobile app, they can currently only be created on a desktop. Functionality to create and schedule a buyer’s tour through the app is planned for a future release.
