Open House = go and enjoy

Asking for a private showing or asking to tag along on someone else's private showing = sorry, but no

Have you looked on the realtor's website to see if he/she has posted interior photos?

Well except the OP is not just anyone. I would contact the agent - tell him/her who you are, ask if they'll be having an open house or if you can drop in when they're over there anyway. If they have any sense at all and if they have time they'll accommodate you and you can tell them things about the house that only you can. Most people have a heart and get the thing about connection to land/places from childhood.

They can always say no, and if they do, well, there's your answer! It never hurts to ask. Back in the day my parents would occasionally knock on the door of houses we used to live in and the owner would oblige while we looked around and chatted for 15 min. But this was in small town America circa 1970 - obviously times have changed!!!

This post was edited by kashka_kat on Tue, Jan 14, 14 at 9:16

I was once out in the front yard of a house we owned and a lady stopped and asked if she could see the house. Her parents had built it and we had totally remodeled it. She was both thrilled and sad with the changes, and yes, I did take her through it and she told me a lot about it.

I don't think you have anything to lose by asking the listing agent.

In my area, the listing agent is rarely present when the house is shown to a buyer, it is the buyer's agent who is present, so the listing agent may not even need to be there if you are friendly with another agent who could show the house (depending on the sellers' requirement of who be present).

My real estate agent has shown me a number of houses over the years that I looked at primarily out of curiousity. I bought one when I was not planning on moving before I saw it, and I bought another when I was actively looking but it was a house that I was curious about rather than interested in, ahead of time. So I have no personal qualm with looking at a property out fo curiousity, unless it is an inconvenience for the listing agent.

One could say it creates an inconvenience to the seller, but selling a house involves a fair amount of inconvenience. If I was a seller and someone who had owned it before wanted to see it, I would not have a problem with that, either.

I did go to an Open House for a house we had once lived in. I told the agent why I was there as soon as I went in and since she was not busy, we had a good long chat about the house. I told her many things which the owners were unaware of and she was very appreciative.
It was very interesting to see the house after a couple of different owners had put their stamp on it.