How to Attend an Open House

Attending open houses can be a great way to get a feel for the market as well as possibly find your next dream home. There are a few things you should know before setting out to attend your first open house.

First, try not to get stressed out. This should be an enjoyable experience. At the same time; however, there are a few things you should focus on in order to obtain the information you need to make an informed buying decision.

Organization is extremely important to approaching the process of attending open houses. If you’re looking in an active market, more than likely, there will be several open houses during the same day. After you’ve been looking for a few weeks, you’ll find that you will have looked at more homes than you can remember. To remember as much as possible about each home, take the time to take notes on every home that you visit. If you own a digital camera, it’s also a good idea to snap a few pictures to help aide your memory as well. Always make sure you ask the seller before taking pictures; however.

When it comes to the notes that you take, try to write them down as soon as you can after the open houses. Write down notes about what you thought about the appearance of the home as well as its location. Think in terms of commute time, distance from shopping and worship facilities, schools, etc.

In terms of the inside of the home take into consideration the condition of the walls, ceilings, carpet and cabinets. Try not to get hung up on things that won’t matter if you purchase the home such as taking the owner’s decorating style into account. Focus on what may need to be repaired, replaced or changed out.

Also make sure you think about the size of the home in terms of square footage as well as each room. Are there enough bedrooms and bathrooms? Are the rooms big enough? What about number and size of closets? Also think about storage space. If you need to do so, bring a tape measure along with you to help.

Finally, take advantage of all the resources available to you. Unless the owner is doing a FSBO, there will normally be a real estate agent present. Be sure to ask them about any questions you might have. After all, you’re considering a large purchase and should get all the information you need to make an informed buying decision.

 
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