What to Know Before You Go to an Open House

Christian: [0:01] Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum, of the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc, uh, and again, we are a group of Seattle-area real estate agents. That's what the Awesome Nossum Group is. Today, we are sharing all the tips and tricks that you need to know before you go to an open house, and I know most of you know what an open house is, but I want you to understand exactly what it is. So an open house is basically just when a house is for sale, generally on the weekend, Saturday or Sunday, an open house is when anyone can walk into the house and just walk around and check it out, see the backyard. Um, you don't have to, like, schedule a time with your real estate agent. Your agent doesn't even have to be there. You can just feel free to walk on in, and there's a lot of kinda nuance and tricks and tips that you should know before you start going to open houses. That's what we're gonna cover today. So my co-hosts today are the lovely Reed Watson-

Joanna: [0:57] Hello … Speaker: and Joanna Beecher. And we're gonna go over all that you need to know about open houses. So Joanna, when should people attend an open house? Well, as we all know, open houses are super fun. Um, looking at houses is clearly all of our love language- Mm-hmm … or else we wouldn't do this job. But many of our clients attend open houses because they are looking casually and trying to figure out if a certain neighborhood might be a good fit for them. It gives them a sense of an area, pricing, and types of homes. A lot of people also attend open houses to get a sense of the style of home that they are looking to buy, and to narrow down their criteria and what they potentially want in the one. And just to clarify, we are always happy to show homes to clients, and are happy to do that process with you and figure all of those things out. But sometimes if you are just on a whim and you wanna go see an open house, they're really great to do. If you're wanting to go to open houses, you can find them online or just by driving around the area that you like and looking for signs.

Reed: [2:01] Yeah, so once you set foot into an open house, there are a couple of tips, tricks that I like to try and give my clients kinda before they start going to them. So just be aware, like with any house tour, they're likely gonna ask you either to remove your shoes or just to put booties on, so I recommend shoes that are easy to slip on and off. They're not a requirement. And just know there's kind of gonna be one of two different types of agents working the open house. Either it's going to be the listing agent, the person who is representing the seller and is selling the home, or it's going to be an agent that has either asked the listing agent if they can host an open house or is perhaps on the listing agent's team and wants to hold it. And that type of agent is typically going to be there because they're looking for buyers. So it's really common when you walk into an open house as a buyer to be asked to sign in on a sign-in sheet, to give your phone number and your email. That's typically because the agent is wanting to market to you in the future and get you as a buyer. It's not because they wanna send you information about the home that you're actually standing in right now. So you can always decline or put in a fake email. I don't encourage clients to fight people on that necessarily. I just h- tell my clients, "You can write down my name and email," and, you know, they can send me all of the emails that they want. They won't, though, if they see that it's a realtor. So the agent may also follow you around the house, ask you a lot of questions if they're really, really trying to kind of win you as a client. So even if you don't work with us, but say you're just somebody who's going to an open house and doesn't wanna be bothered, you're welcome to say that, you know, you already have an agent, and mention us, and that way they should leave you alone.

Christian: [3:37] Yeah, mention Reed Watson.

Reed: [3:38] Mention Reed Watson as your agent, and- Or Joanna

Christian: [3:41] Beecher.

Reed: [3:41] Or Joanna Beecher.

Christian: [3:42] Don't mention me.

Reed: [3:42] Don't mention Christian. But they should kind of leave you alone after that.

Christian: [3:46] Theoretically, they should. They don't always.

Reed: [3:49] No, they really don't.

Christian: [3:49] Some agents do- Tend to follow buyers around the open house like they're a lost puppy. Mm-hmm. And it's kind of sad, but-

Reed: [3:57] Yeah

Christian: [3:57] that's their business model.

Reed: [3:59] Absolutely. And typically, those agents, you know, they aren't the one selling the house, so they don't know everything about it. If you do know that the agent is the listing agent, I do encourage you to ask questions. Mm-hmm. They should have a lot of knowledge about the house and the condition of the property. If they don't, that's also something that you wanna take note of, for sure.

Christian: [4:18] All right, so sometimes when you go to an open house, you might actually fall in love with it. You might love the house. If you sense that this is happening while you're there, be careful. Try not to divulge too much info. Especially if you're there by yourself, meaning without your agent to advocate on your behalf. Um, it's a very, very delicate situation. You don't want to accidentally say something that could hurt you in potential negotiations. So it's best to just kind of be quiet. If nothing else, when the agent asks how you like it, you could just nod your head if you can't bite your tongue, and just quickly leave. Um, they might be like, "Well, that was weird," but at least you don't screw up your chances of- Mm-hmm … getting a good deal potentially.

Joanna: [4:59] Okay. So one of the most important things, and Reed has touched on these things, um, just a moment ago, but, you know, make sure you definitely have… tell them you have an agent upfront. It just makes things easier for everyone. And one of the biggest things is to be nice, be kind. You don't want to have, you know, the listing agent potentially go back to the seller, if you're super interested, and say, "These people were terrible. They said horrible things," or, "They just weren't nice to me," or-

Christian: [5:31] Mm-hmm

Joanna: [5:31] who knows? But either

Christian: [5:33] way- Or if you said things, all the things you were gonna redo in the house-

Joanna: [5:37] Exactly. … Speaker: and the agent overheard this, and then the agent tells the seller, and the seller thinks their house is perfect, why would anyone touch any of it? Yeah. That could be offensive to that seller. So these are the weird little things that you really gotta be careful of. Right. It seems a good agent should not repeat that back to their s- their seller. One would think.

Christian: [5:55] But- Mm-hmm … that doesn't mean that's what always happens.

Joanna: [5:57] One other thing that, uh, Reed had just touched on is about asking questions if the listing agent is in fact the one hosting the open house, and this is very true. I say ask all the questions that you can, and the type of questions that would be probably most important to the situation is ask about any renovations, ask about any improvements that the seller has made, how old things are, like the water heater, the roof, the carpets. Things like that are, are very important for you to know.

Reed: [6:26] Plumbing, all that stuff.

Christian: [6:28] Mm-hmm.

Reed: [6:29] Yeah, all of that stuff is super important, and I think there are a couple of things that I would advise buyers not to say as well. Um- This is

Christian: [6:36] almost even more important.

Reed: [6:38] Yeah, Christian touched on don't tell them how much you love it, you know. Mm. Just kind of play that poker face.

Christian: [6:44] Yep.

Reed: [6:44] Yeah, don't talk price. Um, you know, leave that to be a conversation between you and your buyer's agent. Just trust us when we say you won't get ahead talking price with- No … the listing agent. And also just be aware, any time you're in a home, this is something I like to talk with my buyers about, even when we're just on a tour, it's not an open house, but it's just us in the home- Mm-hmm is that sellers do sometimes have cameras or recording devices in there. They're supposed to disclose that if they do. They don't always. And so it's just smart to kind of keep things like price, strategy, all of that sort of thing to yourself while you're inside of the home so that you can really strategize on that privately with your agent.

Christian: [7:20] All right, so one big warning I want to give to everyone that is going to an open house, and- I've seen this happen unfortunately a few times, where you walk in, the listing agent, again, that's the agent that represents the seller, they are there running the open house, working the open house. And they tell you, "Hey buyer, if you wanna save some money, just let me represent you and the seller, and I'll discount my commission and give you a deal." That is not a good idea. Generally, it just doesn't ever play out in your favor. And the reason why is because the listing agent's obligation is to actually represent the seller. They are not supposed to represent you. They have to represent one side or the other. They've already been hired by the seller, so they are going to represent the seller. That means they are gonna negotiate on their behalf the entire time. So it's just, it doesn't ever plan out or play out the way that they initially described it as, where you're gonna get a deal 'cause you're working with them. Um, so just be careful. Uh, it's called dual agency. We don't even provide that. We never want to do that 'cause we just don't feel like it's right. Uh, but it's similar to like going through a divorce and hiring the same attorney to represent both sides. It just doesn't add up. It doesn't make sense, and you can't really do it in a fair manner. So, um, just be wary. If an agent does say this, and some do, not all do, but sometimes they might pop up and offer this as a way to make a discount or get a discount, uh, just be aware. That's the risk. That's the, that's the big caution that I really want to throw out there, 'cause we have seen that in the past, and it's never played out in the buyer's favor ultimately. To follow up on that, when you are using a buyer's agent, so basically an agent to help you as you're buying, that doesn't cost you anything. That is rolled into the price that the seller has already agreed to pay. Uh, it's, it's really kind of a no-brainer to get your own 'Cause it's really coming out of the seller's pocket the majority of the time. So that's the big thing that I really wanna point out there. Don't try and save a couple pennies, but at the end of the day, honestly get screwed potentially because that agent represented the seller, and they didn't advise you to get an inspection, and then you bought a house that had a sinking foundation or a leaky roof or something horrible that costs thousands and thousands of dollars to repair. I think we covered it. I think that's it. That is all that you need to know to successfully navigate an open house, whether it's 2022, 2023, or 2024. Doesn't matter what year it is, these tips will last forever. Um, so definitely take our tips. Use them, and if you ever have questions, just reach out. We are happy to help. If you wanna talk a little more strategy on this, uh, individually, we're happy to have a free strategy session with you. Just go to AwesomeNossumGroup.com/schedule. You can schedule a strategy session with us. They are totally free half-hour consultations one-on-one with us, either in person or via Zoom. Um, and they're totally laid back. There, there's no cost. There's no obligation. You don't have to buy or even choose to work with us. It's just giving you some info. Lastly, we gotta plug the Beers and Home Buying class 'cause we do it every time. Every month, we have a free Beers and Home Buying class. You can find the next one that we do and which neighborhood it's gonna be in right on the website beersandhomebuying.com (opens in a new tab). That's B-E-E-R-S, the word "and", A-N-D, homebuying.com.

Reed: [10:52] Let us buy you a beer.

Christian: [10:54] Yes. Or two. Free beer, hour-long class, zero pressure. Really is only an hour long, and we'll stick around and do a bunch of Q&A for however long people have questions. That's it for this week. We'll see you next time. Bye.