Methods and systems for facilitating sale of a home in which an occupant is absent are provided. A resident communications system is installed at the home. Upon completion of a showing at the home by a real estate agent, a signal is transmitted from the resident communication system. The signal can be a home identifier that is subsequently received by a centralized showing system, which correlates the home identifier with a logical address of a handheld communications device carried by the occupant, and contacts and informs the occupant via the handheld communications device that the home showing has been completed. Or the signal can be a notification signal that is transmitted directly to the handheld communications device for notifying the occupant that the home showing has been completed. The resident communications system may have a base unit and a remote unit, such as a lockbox, that can be placed near the ingress/egress of the home and actuated to transmit an activation signal to the base unit, which then transmits the signal to centralized showing system or directly to the handheld communications device.