Open House - Tips for buyers?

Paulaviki

Hi

Next Sunday we are going to our first viewing and its an open day. We are FTB, and the house is a on the market for £5k over our max budget but I'm not too worried about that.

Anyone have any tips or advice about viewing houses being sold this way?

tigsly

Try not to fall into the trap of believing everyone there will make an offer.. i've been to a few now - where no offers come forward!

dimbo61

Take your mobile to take photos, maybe a tape measure to check room size!
Compass to check direction of garden, south facing for best sunshine.
Check electrics, turn the lights on! Have a look at the fuse box/photo.
Well kept property ? Tidy garden, smells of damp !
Local area, busy road and why open house ? How long on the market and has price been reduced.

vectistim

If there are other people there at the same time as you, eavesdrop on their conversations (OK, you might then need to filter the information you get, but it might be a cunning way to learn something)

robatwork

First consider if it's an open day then either they want a quick sale, or are having problems and may well take a low offer. If people were biting their hands off like is happening in London at the moment they wouldn't need one.

Take some pics of the rooms to aid your memory later - I wouldn't do this on a normal first viewing but I think you can get away with it on an open viewing.

Sit outside the house before or after to see traffic - both pedestrian and car and get a feel for it.

Paulaviki

See that's what I don't get with this house, I'm in Kent and houses like it are selling within days. So I guess they must want a quick sale, or just don't want viewings on lots of different days! It was put straight on the market this way so it's not due to struggling to sell it. So I wonder if they are hoping to get a bidding war going!

Kynthia

Lots of agents are doing this now in my area when properties first come on the market. It's not because the property is struggling to sell or that the sellers want a quick sale, but because the agents have so many people on their books. So when a new property comes on there is a great demand for viewings in the first weekend and an open day means getting the most of them in without having agents back and forth all day to the same property. They usually revert to normal viewing slots after the first couple of weekends.

tigsly

Every agent round here recomended open houses, or block viewings - so 'open house' in name -but really short timed slots in a row..

They generally said if a hosue was empty - a full open house would happen but if you had 'things' in it - then for safety reasons theyd do 'block viewings'..

I have a young family- and I think it was to minimise 'home life disruption!'

If its just come to the market there could be lots of reasons for an open house