Every Sunday from 1 to 3 in the afternoon, real estate agents are sitting in strange living rooms all over the county. A lot of agents don't like working on Sunday, so you'll tend to find newer agents at open houses. Of course, some highly experienced agents continue to do open houses every week because they enjoy it.
Whatever real estate agents may think about open houses, they are a great opportunity for you to learn about buying or selling a house before you start working with an agent. If you think you might buy or sell a house in the next two years, you should probably go to a bunch of open houses, starting as soon as possible. My wife and I went to about 40 open houses starting 6 months before we bought our first property. The education we received through doing this made it much easier when it came time to make an actual decision to buy.
First of all, going to open houses will start to develop your knowledge of prices. When you read a listing in the paper or online, you don't get enough information to make a judgment about the listing price. You need to see the lot, get a feel for the inside, check out the quality and condition of materials. After you've gone to about ten open houses, you'll start to have a clear idea of how much a house is worth. When you eventually start seeing houses with a real estate agent, you won't have to put blind trust in the agent's opinion about the price. Even if you have a knowledgeable and trustworthy agent, it's easier to be confident when you can cross check the agent's opinion against your own knowledge.
Another benefit of going to open houses is that you can learn about the process of buying or selling. The agent at the open house will be glad to answer your questions. Spend some time talking to the agent. Even if you don't know what to ask at first, just say something simple like "what should I know about buying a house?" Listen to what they say and ask follow-up questions. This will help you learn about the issues you'll face as a buyer/seller and it will also start to give you a sense of what you like/dislike in an agent. Then, when it comes time to choose an agent, you'll have a much more solid basis for evaluating whether they can provide the service you want.
If lawyers or bankers were sitting around Sunday afternoon giving out free professional opinions, people would line up to talk to them. So take advantage of open houses. You might even get some free cookies out of it.
Dean Rock is a full-service real estate professional at Coldwell Banker in Lancaster. Dean's professional and volunteer activities are focused on long term health of Lancaster County's economy and society. Dean's areas of interest include historic homes, land preservation, low-income home ownership, education and youth social work. Click here to learn more about Lancaster PA real estate.
