Lockbox and showing instructions: what to include and what to leave out

Showing instructions are the part of a listing that gets read right before someone drives to the house. When they are vague, you get calls at 9 PM asking where the box is. When they are wrong, a buyer’s agent stands on the porch with a client. When they are too generous, a door code ends up somewhere it should never be. A short, consistent set of instructions fixes most of it.

What the rules say

These come from the PropTx MLS Rules, effective December 2, 2024. Check your own board’s current rules and your brokerage’s policy, since both can add to them.

• •Where showing information goes: rule 3.04(d) says the Appointment/Showing Remarks field shall display all information related to showing the property.
• •The seller’s instructions have to be accurate: rule 3.16 says listings are available for showings, subject to applicable legislation and the occupant’s rights, and that the seller’s instructions on showings must be accurately reflected in the listing.
• •Appointments: under 6.02 and 6.03, appointments are made through the listing brokerage or as indicated on the MLS system, and the listing brokerage makes and confirms them without delay.
• •Who attends: rule 6.05 says that unless the seller agrees otherwise in writing, a registrant accompanies a non-registrant for the whole visit. The co-operating brokerage verifies the identity of its own client before booking.
• •The code is not yours to pass around: rule 6.08 says someone who receives a lock box combination or other access credentials shall not disclose them to anyone else without the seller’s consent.
• •On the way out: rule 6.09 says keys are put back in the lock box immediately on exiting, and the box is secured. Rule 6.07 says not to tamper with another member’s box.

What to include

• •How to book: the showing service, phone number or email, and how a booking is confirmed.
• •Notice: “1 hour” or “2 hours” is a real answer. “Call first” is not.
• •Where the box is, in words: “black box on the side gate, left of the meter”. Not the code.
• •Who is home: tenants, a nanny, a seller working from home, or a vacant property.
• •What visitors must do: shoes off, pets, alarms, lights, which doors to lock, and where the key goes.
• •Time limits: a window each day, or days that are closed to showings, as the seller instructed.
• •Whether you or the seller attend. If the seller has agreed in writing that a non-registrant may be unaccompanied, record that in your file, not in the public remarks.

An example: “Book through the showing service, 1 hour notice. Box on the side gate. Cat in the house, please keep the basement door closed. Lock both doors and return the key to the box.” That is about thirty words and answers the usual calls.

What to leave out

• •The lockbox code, in any remarks field, any public field, a feature sheet or a social post.
• •The alarm code, the gate code, and the Wi-Fi password.
• •The seller’s mobile number and the days they are away.
• •Anything that reads as an invitation to enter without an appointment.
• •Words about the occupants that do not belong in a listing. Describe the access, not the people.

If a buyer’s agent needs the code, they get it in the booking confirmation, from a showing service or from you directly. Do not leave it in an email thread to a vendor either. A code that went out once keeps circulating, so change it after a stager, photographer or cleaner is done with it.

Keep a record of the box

A lockbox is a physical object that someone has to remove at the end. A small register saves a bad week:

• •The box number or serial, its type, and which door or gate it is on.
• •The code, held somewhere private, and who has been given it.
• •The listing it is on, so you know when to take it off.
• •A date to retrieve it when the listing is sold, expired or cancelled.
• •How many keys and fobs came with the property, and who holds each.

Retrieval is the step that gets forgotten. A box left on a sold property is a code that still opens a door.

Frequently asked questions

How Listing Launchpad handles lockboxes and showing access

Listing Launchpad was built so access details live in one place and the code stays out of everything that gets shared.

• •The forgotten box: the Lockboxes register holds each box’s number, code, door location, owner and listing. When a linked listing closes, expires or is cancelled, the box shows under “Retrieve soon”. “Mark as retrieved” moves it to inventory and asks where you put it.
• •Entering the same facts twice: linking a box fills the listing’s Lock Box Type, Serial Number and Location, and editing either side updates the other. The code and the notes stay in the register and never go into the listing’s data, which a share link can read.
• •The code on a screen: codes are masked in the register until you tap to reveal them.
• •The code in a vendor email: when you book a photographer through Media Day, the code shows only on the vendor’s own work order page, never in the email, and you can revoke that link at any time.
• •Keys and fobs: the listing records the Number of Keys and Number of Fobs under Inclusions & Exclusions.
• •Retrieval left to memory: the default checklist has a Lockbox installed and a Lockbox removed task.

Media Day is included on every plan, Free included.