Question about Open Houses...

[Sabrina]

We hope to purchase our first house this coming Spring. We have started checking out the real estate listings to get an idea of what is available in our area in our desired price range. What goes on at an Open House? How does it work? Can we just walk in and look around, even if we aren’t pre-approved and not actually seriously looking at the property? I have visions of being accosted by the real estate agent as soon as we walk in the front door… :eek:

TIA!

[Emilie]

First, they will take your fingerprints and make you sign a deed turning over your 1st born child...kidding. Totally kidding. ;)

No, you can go into any open house you would like - they don't know that you have not been approved and/or aren't seriously looking. Some realtors will ask you to sign in but they probably wouldn't beat you up if you didn''t.

I know a lot of people who tour open houses for decorating ideas.

Have fun!

[sea74]

My DH and I sold our last home ourselves. When he had an open house, only one of us was there as to not intimidate the people looking. We generally felt the people out to see if they wanted to walk through the house themselves or if they wanted us to take them through. We didn't put any pressure on them.

I think most open houses are this way. Good luck to you!

[greenbunny]

The ones I've been to usually ask you to sign in with your name and address and phone number. Mostly because they want to call and hassle you then, it's like the lazy man's contact list. I just ignore that request.

[Marie]

Oh they will attack as soon as you walk through the door. I give out fake info because I don't want the follow up calls.

However, you can go in and walk around and start to get a decent idea of what is available in your price range in a given area. I think it is a great way to start the search process.

[EmilyBronte]

Open Houses are an excellent way of seeing what's on the market without having to set up an actual appointment to view a property.

I've worked several open houses as a Realtor and, honestly, I'm often bored at them and don't like doing them. First of all, an open house rarely sells the property, but also in the few hours the house is held open, only a handful of people usually show up! From that standpoint, I'd rather have people coming to look at the house than not, even if that person is just a neighbor wanting to see inside the house!

And I hate that other Realtors use Open houses as a way to get contacts for mailings! I used to ask the people if they are working with a Realtor and if they say, "no" then I'd offer my services. If they were interested in hearing from me again, then I contact them. Otherwise, I didn't even have them sign in.

[ktdelsur]

I actually just went to one this past weekend with a friend. Neither of us had any intention of buying it - we had just driven by it every day on the way to work, admiring the outside and wanting to see the inside! (It's a brand-new lakefront property going for way more than either of us would ever pay for a house, but we were curious). We managed to come at a time when the realtor was busy w/ a family who was truly interested - we just made a quick run through, oohed and aahed, and left. We had planned on giving fake contact numbers in case we were made to sign in, but we got out scott-free. Ha ha...

[julietchicago]

The Realtor will ask you if you are already working with an agent (that is why she is having the open house..1. to sell the house 2. to find new clients)....just tell her you are already working with an agent.

You can go to any open house you want...you are not obligated to show pre approval info.

[wonderpup262]

I've probably been to 25 open houses over the past couple of months, and it's nothing to stress out over. The realtors are used to having neighbors and nosy people come through. I've never had anyone give me a hard time. Many of them have just said hello and then left us alone. Others have asked the standard questions - are you preapproved, are you working with an agent, what areas and price range are you interested in, etc. But it's usually very casual and low-pressure. I think it's fun.

If you aren't ready to buy until spring, it might be too early to look. You just might fall in love with a place and start feeling like you have to jump on it. (Don't do it! I have fallen in love with 3 places already. You will get over it, and you will find something else when the time is right.) Have fun!

[irish74]

I go to open houses all the time and the real estate agent has never said more than hello to me unless I've asked a question.

[justHB]

I'm an open house slut. I was going to them 2 years before we bought our place and one year afterwards, I'm still visting houses in the neighborhoods I want to eventually move into. Basically, I'm looking to get an idea of the type of houses in the neighborhood that are listed within my price range. One picture or a description in the paper is not going to give me a good idea, but walking through and checking out multiple homes will.

I've only been harassed a couple of times by agents trying to get me to hire them. The most recent time I told them our friend was our agent and he wanted to know his name so that he could follow up with him. It was all very weird. The house was on the market for awhile in an area with an incredibly competitive market. I have no doubt that he was the reason why.

[nuhmah]

We went to a few open houses when we first began our house-hunt. We went to a couple in each area we were looking in to get a better feel of where we would get the most bang for our buck.

Grab a cookie - most of them have food when you walk in. :)

[Lil' Peach]

We went to tons of open houses and just walked in and looked around. Of course we greeted the realtor but we were pretty much on our own. We always had a sign in sheet that we just put our names & realtors name on. And if we had any questions, we had our people call their people. :D

[KitKat]

I like to go to the OH's in my neighborhood to get a gauge of the market and relative value of my home. DIfferent realtors have different styles, most just meet & greet and don't require you to sign in. I have found that often times the newer agents do it to build their mailing list.

There are so many trophy homes ($6+ mil) around that they attract a ton of lookie-lous, so it's not worth the time collect info unless someone is seriously interested.

If I am somewhat interested in a home but don't want to waste the realtor's resources, I will take a brochure and return it at the end of the tour. They are often thankful for that (and it helps to save trees!)