Are you ready to start heading to open houses in search of your first home?

Maybe you’ve been looking online for the past several months.  And haven’t been ready to take the plunge from the virtual into the actual housing market.  

Whatever reasons you’re ready now – like:

• You’ve paid down your debt and are able to get a mortgage now
• You’ve changed job locations
• Your family has grown . . .

. . . you’re going to love getting out there and seeing homes firsthand.  

Attending open houses is a huge part of the whole home buying process that’s not only educational and eye-opening, but can be really fun as well. 

As for fun, you get to decide. 

You can look at attending open houses as time-consuming and frustrating.  Or you can look at them as getting to go out and shop for the biggest item you’ve ever gotten to purchase.

Sure, buying your first home (or any home for that matter) is a monumental undertaking.   And there’s tons of important things to consider as you’re touring the homes.  But, make sure to enjoy the process along the way.

Besides, this unique milestone of purchasing your own home only happens a few times or so for most people.  Maybe even just once.  So, you don’t want to squander it away being stressed out and worried.

And how often do bunches of people ever get to stroll through complete stranger’s homes?

You can choose to feel icky as you walk through seller’s bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets.  Or you can secretly love being able to peek into their private lives for a few minutes.

We guarantee you’ll have plenty of interesting and even surprising moments as you traipse through the homes for sale.

Even post Covid when regulations can change from week to week, attending open houses is still a safe way to shop for homes and to learn about the housing market in general.

Should You Attend Open Houses or Private Showing?

One note:  An alternative to attending an open house at a home you’re interested in is going to a private showing.  This is when your real estate agent sets up a time for you and him or her to go through the home alone.  

Some homes for sale don’t have an open house scheduled, so the only way to see it is through a private showing.  For other homes, the only way to see it is at an open house.  

This runs the gamut depending on how a listing agent prefers to sell a home (with or without an open house) and on home seller’s preferences.

For our purposes in this article, though, all the information can generally be applied to both open houses and private showings.  No biggie.

The big advantage to a private showing is there are no crowds of people in the way as you go through the house.  It’s quieter.  You can focus more on all the details of the house.

A disadvantage to private showings is you sometimes only have fifteen minutes to go through the entire home.  

If a house is in demand, there could be back to back showings every fifteen minutes – with no extra time to keep looking if another group is waiting at the door.  

At open houses, on the other hand, you can stay as long as you want within the scheduled open house time.

One ideal situation if you are really interested in a particular home is doing both.  You attend the open house.  Then if you feel you need to see it again before deciding to put an offer in or not, you ask your agent to schedule a showing.

In this seller’s market we’re still in, though, many homes are continuing to sell faster than usual.   Offers are often due a day or two after the open house – leaving no time for a private showing.    

It’s common for an available home to have open houses scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.  Then offers are due by Monday at noon. 

How Many Open Houses Will You Need to Attend?

Before we dive in, you might be wondering how many open houses you’ll need to attend before landing your new home.  

As you can imagine, this number varies greatly.  

It’s nice to fantasize that the first home you tour will be THE ONE – your dream home.  You then place an offer; it gets accepted; and you move in forty-five days later.

That can happen.  But more than likely, it’s going to take a whole lot of open houses before you’re able to call a home your own.

How many?

According to a recent survey, homebuyers will view an average of 20 homes before purchasing their home.  That number can double and even triple, though.  

As you can see, home buying is more of a marathon than a sprint.

Keep this in mind as you go through open house after open house most weekends for months. 

Also know that attending an open house is never a waste of time.  In our eyes anyway.  You always walk away knowing a little more about homes and about the market.

And besides, as you’ll soon learn, you never really know what a house is like until you see it in person.  The pictures online of room after room can look very different from what the house actually looks like when you get there.

This isn’t to say that real estate agents try to deceive the public with unrealistic pictures.  It can happen. 

But more often than not they are simply highlighting the best features of each room and showing the house off in its best light.  

Just like we do when taking photos of ourselves. 

And it can go both ways.

You might look at listing pictures online and get so excited to see a home.  Only to be totally let down and even shocked by what the house actually looks like when you get there.

Then there’s those times when a home can look a little unappealing online, but you decide to head to the open house anyway.  And you’re pleasantly surprised at how impressive it is in person.

Let’s dive into all the benefits open houses have to offer.

11 Benefits of Going to Open Houses

1  You Learn About the Current Housing Market

We all hear plenty of talk around town and online these days about the current state of affairs in the country – including the housing market.  Especially these days, post-Covid, where the market is still surprising even the experts.

As I write this article, the massive seller’s market that’s been around for a few years is finally starting to quiet down.  

A seller’s market basically means there’s not enough homes available to keep up with the demand from buyers who need them. 

And as the law of supply and demand goes, this drives prices up for one thing.  It also causes a lot of competition.  These are just two of the reasons sellers have had all the advantages lately.  

But reading and hearing about the housing market only takes you so far.  Actually getting out there and walking through homes for sale is the ‘hands on’ way to  immerse yourself right in it.

2  You Learn About Local Housing Markets

Attending open houses in your area or in other cities and towns helps you see what the market is like on the local level.

We often hear what the housing market is doing on the national or state level.  From watching the news, for instance, or scrolling the latest buzz on social media.

But, the experts are usually lumping the entire country or state’s housing market conditions together in their reports.  

When you start heading to open houses, you might be surprised at how different current market conditions are – even from one city or town to the next one over.

3  You Learn What’s Hot and What’s Not

Are there droves of people standing in line outside one open house?  All waiting their turn to get in?  Yet, the next one you attend is a ghost town?

Once you start heading to open houses, you’ll begin seeing and learning about trends that are drawing people into one home and keeping them away from another.

Are certain neighborhoods and housing developments trending upwards or downwards, for instance?  

Do some digging and find out why.  Talk to your agent.  Talk to the listing agent hosting the open house.  Even talk to other home shoppers there.

Are people flocking to homes that are staged beautifully and staying away from outdated homes in need of updates?

Has there been recent crime in a particular area?

Has the local school system’s quality rating gone down?

Maybe an agent just did a good job marketing this open house.

Price could be a huge factor.  Certain price points draw larger numbers of potential buyers in than others.  

Whatever the reasons, your job is to keep your eyes and ears open to what’s really going on in your housing market.  

Playing detective is not only fun, you’ll be learning so much in the meantime.

4  You Learn What’s Trending in Home Design 

Have you done some cool decorating projects in your apartment through the years?

Is binge watching certain HGTV shows one of your favorite pastimes?

Maybe your one of those hardcore diy’ers who secretly fantasizes about having their own show on HGTV – lol!  

If any of these describe you. . .

• You’ve always loved what’s new in home design; 

• You’re constantly getting inspired by projects you can take on; 

• You’re excited about getting to dive into them in your own home. . .

You’re going to love open houses!

Even if you’re not a diy’er yet – but can’t wait to own your own home, so you can become one.

There’s nothing like seeing the trends right there, first hand.

There’s nothing like actually walking into a home and saying, “Wow, I can do that!”  or “Yes, I want this exact kitchen island in my new home.”

That kitchen island, by the way, and the way the sellers took down a wall to create an open concept design – might be one of the deciding factors in you placing an offer on that home.  

When you walk through open houses, let them serve as showrooms for you.  Use them to see what’s trending and what’s not.  

Gather ideas; take mental notes; take actual notes on paper or on your phone; and even snap pictures of design ideas you want to create in your new home.

Even if your budget is more along the lines of a fixer upper, that’s perfectly fine.  

You might not be touring houses that have expensive design trends.  But as we see on HGTV, any house can be updated and transformed – on any budget.   

5  You Start Focusing on Homeownership

As a renter, the most you might have ever needed to concern yourself with a heating system is paying your oil and electric bill every month.

Now that you’re going to be a homeowner, you’ll need to learn everything you can about all aspects of your home.  

When you attend open houses, you’ll be surprised at how your eyes will start getting drawn to the parts of a house you never gave any thought to before.

You’ll start looking at and asking about furnaces, hot water heaters, roofs, foundations, and all the parts of a home you’ll now be responsible for.  

Take this a step further when you get home and start educating yourself online.  Like everything these days, Google and Youtube are two great places to head.

This isn’t to say you’re going to watch a Youtube channel and then be able to do your own electrical work – or plumbing, for that matter. 

But, gaining basic knowledge of the systems in homes will help in plenty of ways. 

Like:

• Knowing when systems are operating correctly and efficiently.

• Knowing what to look for when something goes wrong.

• Being knowledgeable when you need to hire subcontractors to repair and replace systems. 

• Understanding repair bills and monthly utility bills.

Learning what you can about these systems will not only help when you’re a new homeowner, it will also be invaluable when it comes to placing offers on potential homes.   

As you’ll see, all the issues a house has aren’t always included on the mls listing.  And even though there’s often disclosure sheets attached, they don’t always tell the whole story.

Sellers fill these out when listing their home.  But oftentimes, they check “unknown” when it asks questions about systems like:  its age; issues in the past; and repair work done.

That’s why it’s always good to ask tons of questions at the open houses about anything you’re unsure of.

And that’s another reason why it’s important to start educating yourself.  You’ll be able to:

Start spotting telltale signs of issues that aren’t disclosed and sellers aren’t sure of.

Understand if a potential house is worth putting an offer in.  Or if the problems would be too expensive to deal with.

Come up with what a dollar amount a house is worth to you and how much you think you should offer.

6  You’ll Learn to See the Bones of a House

Some homes you tour might be beautifully staged with trendy furniture, paint colors and materials that are ‘in’, and perfectly placed decorative accessories.  

Sometimes the sellers themselves have such a knack for gorgeous decorating,  you just go, “Wow!” when you’re walking from room to room.

On the other end of the spectrum, some homes might make you wonder why the sellers didn’t rent a huge dumpster to haul some of the clutter away before showing it to the public.

Or you’ll ask yourself, “Do they know it’s 2022 and not 1980 anymore?”

In all of these scenarios, though, what’s really important is what’s underneath it all – the home’s bones.  

The underlying quality and condition of the house.  In other words, how well it was built and how well it’s been maintained and updated through the years.

The good thing is if you don’t already have a knack for seeing past the things that can all be removed from a home, you’ll get good at it the more you attend open houses.

Flashy home staging, lots of clutter, and even homes that are in a time warp will all just be stuff you’ll learn to see through – while you focus on what matters underneath.

7  You Learn About Home Prices 

Real estate agents and home sellers work together to come up with the right price to sell a home at.  

Agents will spend a lot of time working on a CMA (comparative market analysis) of the house to help determine its value in the marketplace.

Keep in mind that this selling price they come up with is not the same as the home’s assessed tax value or appraised value for home insurance.  

Factors like size, square footage, features, and conditions all go into the CMA.  So do things like location, competition, and recent selling prices of similar homes in the area.

The market value this CMA comes up with isn’t the end all, though.  A seller usually has a price in mind they want or need to get for their home.  

But when all is said and done, what a house actually sells for is more about what’s going on with the housing market and with homebuyers at the time.

A house could be priced ‘perfectly’.  But, if homebuyers are scared over rising interest rates and frustrated from tough competition, the house might not sell at that price.  

Six months ago, there might have been 10 offers over asking.  Now, the sellers might be lucky to get 1 offer after the open house.  

As you can see, there’s a lot of factors that go into a home’s selling price – and what it actually sells for.  

Rest assured you’ll become somewhat of an expert at home prices the more open houses you attend.

Scrolling through a house listing online won’t give you the real reasons it’s priced the way it is.  

Once you head to the open house, go through it thoroughly, and ask questions – that’s when its price will make sense to you. 

And that’s when you can decide if it’s overpriced in your opinion, underpriced, or priced just right for what it has to offer.

After attending several open houses, you’ll have plenty of data to compare it to.

8  You Figure Out Your Wants and Needs in a House 

You might have always loved the idea of living in an historic home filled with tons of character and charm.  

Then after attending twenty open houses and seeing twenty pretty scary basements (scary meaning possible maintenance nightmares), this could change.

You might realize you’re not really into the work and money involved in keeping up a home like this.

On the other hand, going through these open houses might help you determine that ‘yes!’ you’re still in love with historic homes and you no doubt want to own one.

The more open houses you attend, the more you’ll start to learn what types of homes and features are important to you – and which ones you can live without.

Is an open concept kitchen a non-negotiable for you, for instance?  How about the size of the living room, amount of light coming in, closet size or backyard space? 

All things attending open houses will help you decide on.

9  You Learn About the Real Estate Industry

Once you start attending open houses, you can’t help but become immersed in the real estate industry in general.

For instance, you’re not only going to be scoping out the rooms in each house, but you’ll start overhearing and even being included in interesting conversations going on around you.

You’ll start noticing real estate agent’s different personalities – how they speak to others and how they conduct the open houses, for instance.

If you haven’t already, this could help you choose the agent you want to work with to help you purchase your home.   

One important note:  Even if you really like the agent hosting the open house and want them as your agent, it’s best not to use him or her to purchase that particular house.   

This is called a dual agency and we don’t believe it’s a good idea.  An agent is double-dipping, in other words.

In some states like Florida, it’s pretty common to use the same agent for both buying and selling the same home.  But, not in all parts of the country.

You can certainly use that agent as your buyer’s agent – just not for that house.  

An agent should be all in for their client.  If they are working both sides of a house deal, how can they realistically be all in for both clients?

You could let him or her know you’d like to talk with them sometime about the possibility of using them as your agent.  And you can also ask them if you can use another agent in their brokerage this one time to help you place that offer.

Getting back to what you’ll learn, you’ll also come to your own conclusions about what’s important and what’s not at open houses.  

You might like when real estate agents add special touches.  Like full-color marketing materials, bottled water and fancy cookies. 

Or you might be more of a ‘the house should sell itself’ kind of person – and all that other stuff doesn’t impress you.

You might find yourself in homes with bad flips and flashy staging.  The old ‘smoke and mirrors’ tactics.   

You’ll also get good at spotting the quality flips and staging.

In every industry, there’s the good, the bad, and everything in between.  

Experiencing the real estate industry first hand, you might even decide that you’d like to be a part of it someday – beyond purchasing your new home.

You could become a real estate investor yourself at some point.  Which many people do as a way to generate income in addition to their main source.

Buying homes to flip for a profit, to rent out to tenants, or to use as vacation rentals are three of the basic real estate investing strategies you could explore someday.

10  You Can Check out Your Competition

Are there 20 groups of people going through a busy open house?  A house that you definitely want to place an offer on?  

This might be an indicator that your offer has to be especially strong.

Maybe it’s the opposite at the next open house and hardly anyone is here.  This most likely means the sellers won’t have many offers to choose from.  

Which also could mean the ball will be more in your court if you were to place one.  

For instance, you might decide you won’t have to offer way over the asking price – like in real competitive offer situations.  Or that you don’t want to waive any contingencies.

All things you’ll learn about in future posts here at New Homebuyer Academy.

As you’re walking through a busy open house, keep your eyes and ears open to the competition.  You might notice there’s a lot of people strolling through, but many of them are leaving right away.

People usually stick around a house they are seriously interested in.  So, people leaving right away could mean there’s things about the house that are turning them away.

See how many people are stopping to ask the agent questions.  Are they casual questions or do they seem like serious homebuying ones?

There are all things you can garner from observing your competition.

11  You Gain Confidence in the Homebuying Process

If this is your first home, the whole process can be quite intimidating.  Not to beat a dead horse – but ok, we will.  It is the biggest purchase of your life so far!

It’s common to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing.  Because, well, you most likely don’t.

There’s no Homebuying 101 class in high school or college.  

Getting approved for a mortgage, placing offers in the $100’s of thousands of dollars, and signing extensive legal contracts – are all pretty rare for most people.

Attending open houses -’where the rubber meets the road’ so to speak – definitely helps.

As we’ve recommended above, it’s good to educate yourself on the different steps in the process.   By reading articles, for example, like on this website and other websites.  And by talking to your real estate agent and your lender.

In the meantime, you’ll be getting a real hands-on education on a huge part of the process at the open houses.  There’s nothing like it for gaining confidence in yourself.  

And confidence in your abilities to navigate your way through this home buying process will help immensely.

It could mean the difference between a stressful experience and one that brings you to the finish line of buying your own home with plenty of fun and excitement along the way.

Enjoy!

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Stay tuned for more articles on all the ins and outs of homebuying for first-time homebuyers.

If you’d like to ask me any questions, email me anytime at:  paula@michaelandsullivan.com.

Or call:  774-287-5852