Open Houses

Sunday. The day for open houses. Drive down the street in a given suburban neighborhood and you'll see a plethora of open house signs. Coldwell Banker, Intero Real Estate, ZipRealty - there are signs advertising homes that are open. Some signs have balloons, some signs are hand written with chalk - but they all want you to do one thing - come to the open house. "First Time Open! Today 1-4 PM." Ads like these litter Craigslist, SFGate, and any other place you can find ads.

Back when the market was going crazy, open houses looked like college keg parties. There was no parking outside and there was no room to walk around inside. The only thing missing from these were the red plastic cups and the keg. Nowadays, the open houses that I have been to have been much more subdued. I have been the only one in the house often times, with the listing agent following me around to see if I have any questions. Quite a change.

You can usually tell who is serious and who isn't. If a couple walks through the home and then leaves in 5 mins, you know there were either not serious, hated the house, or lived next door and just wanted to see what the house of their existing neighbor looked like. I have even heard neighbors talking about how they want to make their bathroom or kitchen just like their departing neighbors'. Sometimes, the neighbor will even start talking to the agent to see if they can get a gauge on what their house is worth.

However, if there is someone who is interested in the house, you'll see them walk around the house several times (from my own personal experiences) and talk to agent about when offers will be reviewed, etc... When new people come in to look at the house, you can see the interested party glare at the newcomers - willing the newbies to leave 'their' house alone.

Every Sunday, especially in the springtime, this ritual will be repeated several times across every neighborhood. Whether the home sells or not just depends... But there will be a never ending supply of looky-loos going through open houses.