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jeannc_gw

Open house-just being nosy

jeannc
11 years ago

I would love to go a certain open house-have always liked the house, but will not be buying it! Two years ago we purchased a new house, so definitely not in the market. It is not some million dollar house-just a nice house, about $275,000.
Is it OK to go, just being nosy? What should I tell the realtor?
Thanks,
Jean

Comments (16)

  • lyfia
    11 years ago

    You could go and just say you are being nosy. A friend and I did that in the past. I think the realtor appreciated us being honest as he could focus on the other people that arrived at the same time. It was a similar situation for us. Been very curious about the house.

  • chispa
    11 years ago

    Just say you live in the neighborhood and you like to keep up with the RE market. Ask how business is going and then go look around. This allows the realtor not to waste time with you, if other buyers walk in. If no one is around, the realtor might ask for your opinion of the house. I try to give honest and constructive feedback.

    If lots of people go to an open house, it makes the property look "hot"! It might encourage a real buyer to place an offer more quickly because they will think one of the other people at the open house might beat them to it.

    Don't be afraid to go. Just be honest about why you are there.

  • lazy_gardens
    11 years ago

    Jeanne - Go and say, "I live in the neighborhood and have always wanted to see the inside of this house."

    It was a given in some places I have lived, particularly the historic areas, that most of your traffic the first couple of days was going to be the neighbors.

  • Linda
    11 years ago

    From a realtor: Just go in and say you are a neighbor, have always liked the house and was happy to see an open house so you could take a look.

    Realtors do "open houses" to try to sell it. You may not be buying but you may know of someone who is and could tell them you saw the house.

    We as realtors almost always know when someone is a neighbor and not really in the market to buy. Most people act weird, its always very obvious and they always try to sneak in and out without talking to anyone! LOL WE KNOW, JUST BE HONEST!

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    I often go to open houses in our complex and just tell the realtor that I'm only a nosy neighbor who wants see what they did with the kitchen or the bath or whatever. As chispa said, they've always felt it was better to have someone there looking, whether a direct sale could come from it or not. Besides, it helps me give more useful answers when people come up to me and ask about what's available here.

  • ellendi
    11 years ago

    When I first moved in my neighborhood, it was all similar split levels. The first wave of renovations were enlarging or bumping out the back of the house, One or two added a master on the second floor. I used to like to look at houses similar to mine to see what was done to it, possibly to give me an idea for the future.
    I always said I was a neighbor. Yes I guess it's being nosy, but so what?

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    The last open house I went to, I went because I wanted to see the Australian Cypress HW floors in person. I have been considering them for my own house and they were called out in the listing. When I got there, I let them know I was mostly wanting to see the floors in person, and when they asked for my feedback on the house, I gave my honest feedback (there was NO connection between the inside of the house and the back/side yards--tough for a family house). The realtor later turned to the other agent there and said, "notice, that that is what everyone keeps saying" (about no connection between house/backyard). The more honest comments they get, the better they might be able to get a reluctant seller into a "right-price" listing (this one was too high, as it is still listed. Houses here sell fast if priced right).

  • sameboat
    11 years ago

    Geez of course they'd be happy you went through! For starters, you might be loooking for someone who wants to live in your neighborhood. If anything, it shows a serious buyer that lots others are interested and they should jump on it. If I was hosting an open house, I think I'd actually ask some friends and neighbors to come through just so it looked like a lot of people were interested!

  • cocontom
    11 years ago

    Attending an open house for the house you've had a crush on for years is curiosity (acceptable), not nosy. Attending the open house because you have a crush on the owner is nosy. Totally different things.

  • azzalea
    11 years ago

    As someone who just sold a house a year ago, and had a couple of open houses...

    Go, Definitely! As a seller, we were glad people came through. Many were obviously 'just looking', but we didn't mind that a bit, because as someone else here said, you might just know someone else who is looking, and may cite the house as one that would be good for them to check out. And even if not--having extra 'bodies' in the house makes it look interesting to anyone who MIGHT be a potential buyer. Our second open house sold ours--and the folks who bought it called first thing the next morning to schedule a second showing (that they wanted that evening), so I've suspected that the fact that our open house was well attended encouraged them to move quickly, for fear someone else might make an offer.

    Agents are well aware that a lot of the lookers at Open Houses are just that--'nosey' neighbors, but you never know where that could lead, so generally all are welcome.

    My sister went to an open house once, because it was the house our grandmother lived in when we were kids and she wanted to see it again, and see how it had changed over the years. Just saying.

  • zippity1
    11 years ago

    i second every thing azzalea said
    please come to my open house (it'll be a few weeks before it happens)

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    Not to mention, realtors use it as much for marketing themselves as for marketing the house, imo. A person serious about buying a house will have an agent (or find one) and have a private look through it. I wonder how often an open house actually sells the house (as opposed to the private showing that might happen after the open house occurs).

    Maybe you'll need to sell your house, or have a friend who needs a realtor recommendation. And, maybe you had a really great experience chatting with the realtor at the open house. You might just use or refer them! They'd like that.

  • wagnerpe
    11 years ago

    I have to imagine that most people who go through open houses are not seriously looking for houses. When I was seriously looking, I made appointments for private showings for all the houses. I have a three bedroom house in a neighborhood I really like and am constantly struggling with the concept of moving up to a 4BR, building onto our current house or just making do with what we have.

    I would never engage the services of a realtor to tour neighborhood houses, since I haven't even put our house on the market, let alone sold it, but I periodically go through 4BR houses in the neighborhood that appear to meet our needs. I do it as much to keep tabs on what you can get for your dollar than anything else.

    Since we want to stay within a mile radius of my current home for school purposes, I truly am a nosy neighbor. None of the realtors mind when I come through as far as I can tell. I'm just honest with them; it seems not uncommon based on their reaction. Most of the time it's not even the listing agent at the open house, more of a junior associate, and they do try to sell themselves/their services once they realize they can't sell the house to me. That's OK by me, too.

  • azzalea
    11 years ago

    Actually, mamaattorney--while you're right not that many people bring their agents to open houses, in our case, the couple who came to the open house on Sunday, made an appt. for a private showing on Mon, made an offer on Tues, which we accepted on Wed (and signed the contract Thurs).... actually DID come through our open house with their agent. So while not common, it's not unheard of. We also had a number of agents who wandered through, just checking the house in person, in case they wanted to recommend it to one of their clients. Just one more wrinkle. Mind you--we weren't actually there for most of the open house. We'd leave once our agent was on the premises and set up. Think we buzzed back in once, because we'd gone to eat and wanted to put our leftovers in the fridge, but we let our agent do his job. Then he reported the attendance and interest to us when we arrived back home.

  • Zoe52
    11 years ago

    We bought our current home at an open house in 1984. I remember seeing several buyers outside with their Realtors discussing the home and I did not want to be shut out! Homes were moving quickly then in spite of the high mortage rates and there was a shortage of good homes at the time in my area that were on the market in our price range. So we returned that very evening for a second look and put in a bid on the home which they countered and we accepted. There were lots available to build on, but we had a 6 month old at the time and I didn't want to wait for a home to be built. In the meantime, we ended up assuming a 12 and 3/4 mortgage and took out a 15% mortgage on top of that one. Needless to say, we couldn't wait to refinance when the rates dropped!

  • jane__ny
    11 years ago

    I was nosey when a neighbors house came on the market. Attended the open house, got chatting with the Realtor and we hit it off. I liked her and called her 2 yrs later when we decided to list our house.

    She sold our house.

    Definitely go!

    Jane