Your home has been on the market for ten days. You have had twelve showings. Your agent sends you the feedback, and you sit at the kitchen table reading comments from strangers about the home you have lived in for fifteen years.

"Layout was awkward." "Loved the kitchen." "Price seems high for the area." "Would consider if price was adjusted." "Nice home, not for us."

The temptation is to react to every line. Do not do that. Showing feedback is useful data, but only if you know how to separate the signal from the noise.

What Showing Feedback Actually Is

Showing feedback is a short note from the buyer's agent after they have walked through your home. Most agents answer two or three questions. Did you show the property? What is your buyer's level of interest? Do you have any comments?

The note is usually written in the car immediately after the showing, in about thirty seconds, between appointments. It is not a considered assessment. It is a quick impression recorded while the agent is already thinking about the next property on their list.

That context matters. When someone writes "nice home, not for us," they are not delivering a verdict. They are filling in a text box on their phone before driving to the next showing. Read it with that in mind.

The Three Types of Feedback That Actually Matter

Most feedback falls into three categories, and only two of them require action.

Category one: price comments. When multiple agents independently mention price, that is a signal. One agent saying "seems high" could mean anything. Three agents saying it in different words within the same week is the market telling you something. Price feedback is the most reliable feedback you will get, because agents look at comparable sales every day and their sense of value is calibrated by the market they work in.

Category two: condition comments. If several agents mention the same physical issue, a dated bathroom, a dark basement, a smell, that is worth hearing. You may not be able to fix it, but you need to know it is affecting how buyers see the property. Sometimes the fix is simple. A coat of paint costs a few hundred dollars. Having the carpets professionally cleaned costs less than that. Other times the fix is not practical, and the right response is a price adjustment rather than a renovation.

Category three: everything else. "Layout was awkward." "Not the right neighbourhood." "Buyer preferred a bungalow." "Did not like the busy street." These comments describe the buyer, not your home. You cannot move the house to a quieter street. You cannot rearrange the floor plan. File these under "not the right buyer" and move on.

The Comment That Means Nothing

"Will let you know." This is the most common feedback line in residential real estate and it means nothing at all. It is the polite equivalent of walking away from a conversation. Do not wait for a follow-up. If that buyer was interested, you would be hearing from their agent about terms, not receiving a non-answer through a feedback form.

When to Act on Feedback

The decision to adjust is not about any single showing. It is about patterns over a defined period.

In a balanced market like the one we are in now, a well-priced home in good condition should generate meaningful interest within two to three weeks. If you have had fifteen or twenty showings and no offers, something is off, and the feedback will usually tell you what it is.

If the feedback consistently mentions price, the answer is a price adjustment. Not a dramatic one, necessarily, but enough to reposition the home against the current competition. Your agent should be able to show you exactly where your listing sits relative to the comparable properties that are active and the ones that have recently sold.

If the feedback consistently mentions a specific condition issue, decide whether the fix is practical. If it is, do it. If it is not, acknowledge it and price accordingly.

If the feedback is scattered, no pattern, no recurring theme, just a mix of vague comments, the problem is almost always exposure. Either the right buyers are not seeing the listing, or the photos and marketing are not doing the property justice. This is worth discussing with your agent before touching the price.

The Hardest Part

The hardest part of reading showing feedback is separating what you feel about your home from what buyers see when they walk through it. You see the kitchen where your children did their homework. The buyer sees the laminate countertop. You see the backyard where you spent twenty summers. The buyer sees the fence that needs replacing.

Neither view is wrong. They are just different. The sooner you can hold both views at the same time, the easier it becomes to read the feedback for what it is: information about how your home competes in a market full of other homes that are also for sale.

That is all it is. Data. Not judgement. Not a review of your life. Data you can use to make a better decision about what to do next.

If your home is on the market and the feedback is not making sense, call me at 416-560-4983. I will read through it with you and tell you what I think it actually means.