Hawaii Home Buyers and Sellers | Etiquette for Open Houses
Our Open Houses on Oahu (Honolulu County) are still a great way to preview a property. Maybe your Realtor® is unable to attend with you (the Home Buyer) due to previous appointments or holding an Open House themselves. It's also a great way for the neighbor to do a ‘quiet observation' of the agent holding the Open House to see if they might possibly ‘hire' that agent and brokerage firm in the sale of their home.
It's all relevant when it comes to Hawaii Open Houses and Honolulu Real Estate Tips.
- Make sure you've already been prequalified with a lender so you're looking in the correct price range. Be realistic in your home search and price range lest you waste your time. If you have a Realtor® then you have already been instructed to go through that process.
Please don't be rude to the agent holding the Open House. You are there as a guest in someone's home and will be courteous and polite to the one holding the Open House.- Please remove your shoes unless otherwise instructed. In Hawaii, we take off our shoes not matter whose home it is. Open Houses are no different. Again, you are a guest in the seller's home and they most likely have already prepared the home with carpet cleaning and so forth. Wear slip on/off shoes/sandals.
- Please hold on to your children. Letting your children run rampant around a beautiful home is not how you show respect to the owner of the home and being a good example as a guest. The home is not a playground for all of you to pass the time on a Sunday.
- Please sign in the guest book. If you have a Realtor® make sure you have your agent's business card on hand (get a bunch from your agent) to give to the agent holding the Open House. It will also help the Open House Realtor® follow up with your Realtor®. No matter what, you all are a guest in the home so please do the agent a courtesy and sign in.
- Make notes of your own observations. This will help you with your home search regardless if you are just going to Open Houses or showing appointments with your Realtor®. A list of wants and needs before you start your home search is another good tip.
- If you walk into an Open House and REALLY feel that this is the right home for you. Call your Realtor® immediately and put in that offer! The inventory on Oahu is going down and if you try to be a killer negotiator or sit on the fence that home will be gone!
- Remember, the seller's agent who is holding the Open House has the Seller's best interests at heart. A lot of home buyer's "believe" that they are going to "get a better deal" if they deal with the seller's agent directly. The truth is that you are best represented by having your own agent (buyer's representative or buyer's agent) who know the real estate contract and laws. Your OWN agent is your most valuable negotiating tool and bargaining power for your home buying process.
- A company sign for an Open House means they have a listing contract in place. It means they have a legal contract in place and you are not going to negotiate terms between seller and brokerage firm to get a better deal.
- Please don't touch the items in the home. Again, you are a guest in the seller's home and you are there to preview the property. You are NOT there to try and figure out what the seller does for a living and their personal history nor allowed to touch things that don't belong to you.
These may seem like common sense tips for most although many may benefit from one or more of these tips.
Please be respectful and courteous while attending an Open House.
YOU ARE A GUEST.
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Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocating to Hawaii, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents. Website: www.hawaiihomesmarket.com
Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate® and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocations, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents, Home Buyers and Sellers.
© 2007-2012 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog.
All rights reserved.
Sally, says it all! I am doing an open house this Sunday, haven't done one in a while. Not sure that we have the amount of traffic that you have. I am on the fence with them... but sold the first house I ever did an open house for... and have more success stories than that. It is someones home, and should be treated with respect, that's for sure.
Sally - this is a great post. You stand above the crowd in suggesting that the prospect get a buyer's agent to represent their interests! Bravo!
Sally - These open house tips are wonderful for any open house that is being held from sea to shining sea and everywhere in between.
Sally - great list of how to be a guest at any open house. I suspect many folks just don't know. On the other hand, some, unfortunately, don't look at it that way. But in general I find most people are pretty courteous and understanding. Getting them to sign in is another matter.
Jeff
It's amazing that these things need to be spelled out. I have sign-in sheets that I created myself. They say. "All Visitors Must Register". If anyone questions it, I tell them the sellers want to know who has been in their home. But we don't normally remove our shoes. That's very rare. When I step into someone's house, I lok for signs that they might want us to remove our shoes.... like shoes piled, or lined-up by the door, or shoeless owners, or white carpet! If they have white carpet I always ask if they'd like for me to remove my shoes. But they usually tell me not to worry about it. Althoug, if it's white, I usually remove mine anyway.
Hi Sally... these are simply common courtesy and proper etiquette. Open house attendes would be considerate and wise to observe them in Hawaii or anywhere! These are GREAT reminders... I am flagging this post for a feature.
AMEN x 1000! Too often we see people come in and they just turn their kids loose like they entered a special play land. Once I had a family come through an Open House with 7 children. I kept thinking ... they need a bigger house than this! In a quick conversation I learned that only 2 of those children were theirs .... the others were neighbor kids who wanted to see what the pool looked like. I think it was the first time I ever asked a "looker" to take their posse and leave.
I've been very fortunate in all my open houses, not having problems that I can recall of this nature. I'm sure you all have terriblehorror stories to illicit the feedback that's been posted. I'm knocking on wood now :)
Andrea: Good luck at your Open...more often than not we'll have respectful guests. There's always a time when we can use some helpful hints to prepare ourselves for the ones that aren't.
thanks Joan! It sure is needed. There are so many buyers out there (sellers too) that pretend they have a license. It's sad for those not to step outside themselves and realize....that I would do their job no better than they could do mine :)
Donna: I almost started singing :)
Lisa; think about it...we walk outside and step all over 'stuff' and then walk in on the carpet? Well, that's our thinking anyway. We like to sit on the carpet and lounge...or play with the kids (pooch) so I really don't want to be laying all over who knows what lol.
Steve: I appreciate that :) I think this may be something I'll print out and put in my flyer stand as extra info :)
Carol: that's just too much. Bringing the neighbor kids in????? Wow. Like I said...the Open House is not a playground on a Sunday because they're bored.
Troy: What world are your Open Houses in? lol. I suppose you have been lucky.
Sally all good points to follow, but I am not to sure about the "take off your shoes" one, it could get a little ripe :) :)
George: You would look at it like that. I guess over here we don't do tooo much of the closed shoe thing. It's too hot for our feet lol. So, with that in mind...aired out feet should not be 'ripe' if they wash their feet and in between their toes lol!
LOL, Woo Hoo, I just returned from my trip back East and reading George's comment and your response made me bust out laughing. I still have a smile on face. Nice to say hello and thinking about what I should write next. Where I was staying, the Internet connection was still dial up and that made it crazy to even think of commenting and posting. But I did have a great time away and saw some amazing things that I will try to share.
Hi William!!! I missed you for sure! Ewww...dial up? Yeah, I don't know how Gary's gramma still does that :)
Sally, This is a great checklist for all who are attending open houses. Most people are courteous, but in recent weeks I have had one couple that came in with two kids that jumped on the beds, got under the covers i one bed (with shoes on, of course), and handled everyting. I had to keep trying to scold them while their parents said nothing.
Also, I had a guy who began pontificating to all who came in that the price was too high and he had seen similar homes for much less in better neighborhoods. I finally coaxed him out after he scared off several prospects (and then I discovered that he is a neighbor who is known to be a practical joker - not funny).
As for taking off your shoes, many people are uncomfortable doing that, but I have a basket of booties by the front door that people can slip on over their shoes.
Thanks Susan...it's amazing what some think an Open House is for.... I like the bootie idea.