Let’s play “Pretend”.

Let’s pretend that you’re ready to buy a house.

Really serious.

You have a compelling reason.

Maybe you…

  • saved up enough money for a down payment on your first home
  • are relocating to this area because of job opportunity or military transfer
  • are downsizing for your retirement years
  • are upsizing because your income just got bigger or your family just got bigger or…
  • fill in the blank…

Whatever the reason, you are now r-e-a-d-y to buy a home.

Two questions:

Question #1

Would you…

a) only carve out time on Sundays between noon and four to look at homes that are having an Open House on that particular Sunday

b) get with a Realtor who can show you homes during times that fit your schedule. (middle of the week, evening, Saturday, whenever)

Question #2

Would you…

a) only want to look at only the houses on any given Sunday that are being help Open

b) get with a Realtor to look at all the homes that match your criteria whether they are being held Open or not

It’s Not Hard to Figure Out

If you answered “B” to both questions, you understand that Open Houses are pretty much a waste of time.  If you could see any house that is currently being offered for sale that matched your individual criteria and you could see them at a time when your schedule permitted, wouldn’t that make great sense?

Sure. There are people who “just want to look”. There are the neighbors. There are people who happen to drive by the yard sign and think that the Realtor they’re working with is holding out on them. (hint: Realtors really do not hold out on you. They really want you to find the house you really love so you will BUY it. It’s called enlightened self-interest.)

We’re not talking about people like that.  We’re talking about people who are really serious about buying a home and don’t want to take a year to do it.

The really serious buyer rarely looks at Open Houses.  I not saying they never look at Open Houses.  If an Open House happens to coincide with the schedule for visiting homes, the serious home buyer will have the Open House on the list and go to it with their Realtor. They look at the house and then leave to look at other houses on their list whether or not they’re Open Houses.

Open Houses exist for two reasons:

  1. They’ve “always have been done” as part of the real estate sales routine
  2. They benefit the Realtor (more on that in Part 3…stay tuned)

 

Check out this super easy way to search for home in the MD Suburbs – click here