Public open houses and broker opens
When home invasions are a good thing
Once your home goes on the market, you can expect to have strangers wandering around your home (hopefully). The more the merrier!
Open houses: only 1% of home sales result from a buyer seeing the home during an open house. However, sellers are always keen to have their agent do as many of these as possible. It is not unusual for the majority of those who do come in for a look to be curious neighbors who’ve been wondering for years what the inside of your home looks like.
Open houses are usually scheduled for Sundays (sometimes Saturdays) for three to four hours between noon and 4pm (or some variation of that). If you are still living in the home, you will need to disappear for few hours during the open house. If you are standing around while buyers examine the place, they may feel a little uncomfortable and not stick around long enough to fully see all of your home’s best qualities.
It is important that you remove all your most prized possessions that can be easily concealed by someone with itchy fingers. These include any expensive jewelry, laptops and critical medicines. Your agent will try to keep an eye on all your stuff, but if your home is a hit with buyers, the place may be overrun with people during an open house
Brokers’ open house: you have probably also noticed those A-shaped agent signs on street corners during the middle of the week. In this case, the listing agent is holding an open house for all the realtors and brokers who work that area. It allows them to view new properties that have come on the market. They will be either looking for possible matches for their buyers or just keeping up to date with local inventory and pricing trends. Your agent should be willing to hold a brokers open house for you.
Viewings: the key box attached to your front door will allow other agents, with or without buyers, to view your home. If the home is vacant, it probably won’t matter when they come. However, if you are still living there during the listing, expect agents to call wanting to see the place. You will need to keep the place as presentable as possible or be able to get it presentable at short notice.
Talk with your realtor regarding how much advance you would like other agents to give you before viewing your property. If a buyer calls to see your home, tell them that they will need to schedule an appointment with their agent.
