Could your showing instructions in Windsor, CO be costing you buyers? They can, when the agent-only fields are unclear, outdated, or contradict your showing service. The fix has three parts: rewrite the instructions so a buyer’s agent can book and enter in one step, move anything buyers should know into public remarks, and clear stale notes from agent remarks before you relaunch.
Buyers never see these fields, but the agent deciding whether to put your home on Saturday’s tour reads them first. That matters because NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found 88 percent of buyers purchased with an agent. If those agents hit friction, your home quietly drops off the route.
How Agent-Only Remarks Quietly Cost You Showings
A buyer’s agent juggling five or six stops doesn’t call to clarify a confusing note. They move to the next listing that books cleanly. The house never gets judged, so the feedback never tells you why.
| Problem in the Agent Fields | What a Buyer’s Agent Concludes | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Old lockbox location or code | Wasted trip, skip it next time | Verify access before relaunch |
| “Call listing agent” with no window | Booking will take hours | Use the showing service |
| Notes conflict with showing service | Nobody is minding this listing | Keep one source of truth |
| Leftover tenant or price notes | Information is stale | Delete prior-period notes |
| Pets or alarm not mentioned | Surprise at the door | State them plainly |
A missing alarm note rarely costs you one showing. It can cost you the next few from that office.
What Belongs in Agent Remarks vs Public Remarks
The RESO data standard for showing instructions describes the field as the seller’s directions for access, including contact information, showing times, and notice required, and marks it as privileged. Agent remarks work the same way: they’re for professionals, not marketing.
| Information | Where It Belongs | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lockbox type and location | Showing instructions | Security |
| Pets, alarm, notice window | Showing instructions | Smooth entry |
| Offer and disclosure details | Agent remarks | Agent workflow |
| Updates, features, lot | Public remarks | Buyers read them |
| Buyer-agent compensation | Off the MLS | No longer permitted |
| Your motivation or bottom line | Nowhere in writing | Protects leverage |
Two common mistakes run in opposite directions. Sellers bury a new roof in agent remarks, where no buyer reads it, which is why Todd treats the public remarks buyers actually read as a separate job. And older listings sometimes still carry compensation language, even though NAR’s guidance on broker-to-broker agreements says MLS participants have been barred from communicating offers of compensation through the MLS since August 17, 2024.
How to Review Showing Instructions in Windsor, CO Before a Relaunch
Copying the old fields forward is the easiest way to relaunch with the same problem. Todd’s review usually runs in this order:
- Read every agent-only field as a stranger would.
- Book a test showing through the scheduling service.
- Confirm the lockbox, code, and any gate or garage access.
- Delete notes tied to the last listing period.
- Move anything buyers should know into public remarks.
- Recheck the data fields, since MLS listing errors can hide your home before anyone reads a remark.
Clean instructions help agents who have never seen your home. Agents who passed last time need a visible reason to return, as Todd explains in whether buyers look again after relisting.
Signs the Instructions Are the Problem
- Requests start, then get canceled before confirmation
- Agents call to ask how to get in
- Showings were booked but agents couldn’t enter
- Feedback mentions access, not the house
If requests themselves are scarce, instructions probably aren’t the issue. That pattern usually points to price or presentation, covered in why a house is not getting showings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can buyers ever see what’s in agent remarks?
Not by design. Agent-only fields stay inside the MLS, but buyer agents sometimes read them aloud or forward a printout.
Write every note as if a buyer might see it. That rules out comments about the seller’s finances or urgency.
Should my showing instructions mention the dog?
Yes, specifically. “Dog crated in laundry room, do not open” protects the pet and tells agents what to expect.
A vague “pets on site” makes some agents hesitate, especially with young children on the tour.
How often should the instructions be updated?
Whenever anything changes: a new lockbox, a tenant moving out, or adjusted hours. Todd checks them weekly during an active listing.
How would I know the instructions cost me showings?
Compare requests submitted with showings completed, then look at what agents said afterward. A gap between the two usually points to access.
Todd’s guide to what showing feedback means covers reading those comments.
Is it fine to note in agent remarks that the seller is motivated?
Usually not. Agents read it as permission to offer low, and it weakens your position before negotiations start.
If timing matters, let your agent convey it in conversation with your consent and on your terms.
Could Your Showing Instructions in Windsor, CO Be Costing You Buyers?
Instructions feel like housekeeping, so sellers rarely question them. But they’re the first thing a buyer’s agent reads, and confusion there costs tours before anyone judges the house. The tradeoff is small: an hour of review against weeks of thin activity.
Todd can help you see your listing the way a buyer’s agent does, from booking through the front door, and spot which notes create friction, which belong in public remarks, and which should come out entirely.
He’ll compare showing requests against completed showings, review agent feedback, check access and data fields, and look at how competing Windsor listings set up their instructions. Sometimes the honest answer is that the instructions are fine and price or timing is the real issue, so they stay as they are.
Could your showing instructions in Windsor, CO be costing you buyers? Todd can tell you. Call or text 970-286-5390.
