Go To An Open House That You Love? Know What You Should Do
When house hunting, a common weekend activity is to check out open houses in the area. While these homes are not always winners, you may run across a home that you feel is perfect. What should you do when you find a house during an open house that you want to make an offer on? Follow these helpful tips.
Stay Calm
You initial instincts when you find your perfect home is to be excited, but you should actually be calm and collected during your visit. Act normal, pick up a brochure, and even thank the real estate agent that is there for their time.
Why should you stay calm? It's because the agent working the open house is also working directly for the person selling the house. It's possible that the agent may offer to represent you in purchasing the home, but it would be a conflict of interest. They only make money if they sell the home, so you want somebody that is working for you and you alone as your agent.
In addition, other people are seeing the home that may be on the fence about making an offer. Showing excitement could be what pushes them over the edge, because your offer could take the home off of the market. Excitement could cause others to act against your interests, and it shows that somebody else thinks the home is a good find.
Move Fast
For those who work with an agent already, step outside and call them. For those that don't have an agent, you need to find one. Agents do work weekends, so it shouldn't be an issue finding one on short notice. Check to see if they know of the home you're interested in, since they can potentially give you more information about it. This includes how long the home has been for sale, previous offers that have been made, and any problems they know about the home.
The agent will work with you to schedule a second showing so that you can have some one-on-one time with the house, or you can move directly to making an offer. The offer letter will be written, and then sent over to the seller's agent. Without giving other buyers a heads up during the open house, you should avoid a situation with multiple offers on the table.
For more advice about how to handle yourself during an open house, meet with a real estate agent, like Leading Edge Real Estate, prior to when you start house hunting.