Need advice on selling a home 3 hours away from where I live

[Joseph S.]

Hello all, a family member is going to list their home with me and one of their best friends is going to do the same. I have the means to get photography, aerial photography, and video marketing done for both houses.

The problem that I am facing is that I live 3.5 hours away from these homes. I live in Manhattan and they live upstate in the Catskills. My plan was to invite brokers to a viewing party and have them all compete to find a buyer for each.

The fact that I am not available to show the the homes because of distance raises many questions. Can I just leave a lockbox and have buyer agents contact me to view the homes? Can I have buyer agents hold open houses or is that strictly for the listing agent to do only? I have also registered for the MLS in upstate New York so I can list the homes when ready for a monthly fee.

I am fairly new to the business and am trying to make this work. One home is being listed for $150k and the other is going for $970k.

If anyone has any input or advice on this challenge I would be so grateful. Thank you all for your time.