Open house questions

[Anonymous]

Are these questions okay to ask at an open house if I have truly liked the house and feel like making an offer.
1. Why are the previous owners leaving or selling?
2. Are there already offers on this house?
3. Does the neighborhood have kids?

[Anonymous]

1. No, it's not your business.
2. Your agent can ask this
3. Sure, fair question

[Anonymous]

If all the furniture is old, then the sellers are old and downsizing. You can look around to see if there are kids in the neighborhood. Bikes, toys, art in the windows, etc.

[Anonymous]

Ask any question you want. The only potential issue is asking why the sellers are selling. That's personal and the agent would need permission to disclose it.

[Anonymous]

Agents aren’t supposed to discuss if neighbors have kids - this is a violation of fair housing laws that steer people to or from properties based on family status. They can tell you factual info about where parks and schools are. It’s fine for you to ask, and maybe they’ll tell you, but it’s a violation. Go look and see if there’s a swing set if you want to know this.

[Anonymous]

1. Why are the previous owners leaving or selling?
2. Are there already offers on this house?
3. Does the neighborhood have kids?

1) You can ask, the realtor at the open house is unlikely to be the listing agent. Is there an answer to this question that would change your opinion on making an offer? "Job transferred" or "want a bigger home" or "moving to be closer to grandkids" will possibly be shared. "There are a lot of break ins and we don't feel comfortable with the elementary schools" won't be.

2. Again, listing agent probably isn't the open house agent. They'll probably say they don't know, or they'll state there are offers whether there are or aren't.

3. They can't answer this. They also probably wouldn't know it. Drive around on a nice day and look for bikes or basketball hoops, swingsets or kids in yards.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Buying a house by spending so much in this area is a big deal for me and I would like to know certain things in advance before making a big commitment. Thanks for letting me know what is considered appropriate and what is not.

Btw I didn't know the agent at the open house is not the seller's agent. I thought they are. Something new I learned then. I liked the idea of driving around to see if there are any signs of having kids in that neighborhood. I am looking for something where my kids can play outside and not be hooked to devices at home.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion all those questions can be asked or you can take a walk around the neighborhood during the weekend and start a conversation.

[Anonymous]

Ask anything. Not reasonable to expect answers to be accurate, intentional or not.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion all those questions can be asked or you can take a walk around the neighborhood during the weekend and start a conversation.

+1 Or plan to be in the neighborhood when kids would be walking to school or at a bus stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agents aren’t supposed to discuss if neighbors have kids - this is a violation of fair housing laws that steer people to or from properties based on family status. They can tell you factual info about where parks and schools are. It’s fine for you to ask, and maybe they’ll tell you, but it’s a violation. Go look and see if there’s a swing set if you want to know this.

Maybe ask about community activities then. Our neighborhood has a Halloween parade, a spring festival and a couple other family/kid focused activities.

You might be able to look up what percent of the kids go to private vs public school. Ours is around 50/50 which makes it less social for kids because the private school kids are at a lot of different schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Buying a house by spending so much in this area is a big deal for me and I would like to know certain things in advance before making a big commitment. Thanks for letting me know what is considered appropriate and what is not.

Btw I didn't know the agent at the open house is not the seller's agent. I thought they are. Something new I learned then. I liked the idea of driving around to see if there are any signs of having kids in that neighborhood. I am looking for something where my kids can play outside and not be hooked to devices at home.

We bought a house in NoVA a little under a year ago. They often are, actually. It just depends on how busy the seller's agent is. The fancy agents whose name you see everywhere are virtually never the agent at the open house. But some seller's agents, certainly those whose business has less volume, are often at the open house. We are selling a house in a few months and I'm pretty sure our agent will be at ours. But she is semi-retired and nowhere near as busy on weekends as she used to be.

[Anonymous]

Talk to neighbors when you attend the open house. They will either come to the open house to snoop or be out in their yards. This has happened at every open house we’ve attended, and they can be a wealth of solicited and unsolicited information.

[Anonymous]

Sure ask all of them. The answers to the first two will likely be lies. The answer to the third might not be a lie but it will be an affirmative answer (because they know that’s what you want to hear) and there won’t be any basis for the agent to give you that answer. But it’s fun to watch agents lie, to dissect their lies, and to try to figure out what truth their lie is trying to conceal, so I would ask the questions also.

By the way, if you want to know why people might be selling, look up property records, find their names, and google to learn as much as you can about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure ask all of them. The answers to the first two will likely be lies. The answer to the third might not be a lie but it will be an affirmative answer (because they know that’s what you want to hear) and there won’t be any basis for the agent to give you that answer. But it’s fun to watch agents lie, to dissect their lies, and to try to figure out what truth their lie is trying to conceal, so I would ask the questions also.

By the way, if you want to know why people might be selling, look up property records, find their names, and google to learn as much as you can about them.

What does that info really do for the OP? If the house is being sold after 2-3 years that might be a red flag, but if the owners have had the house for 5-10+ years there are tons of reasons they might be selling. Now if one of them had been murdered in the house that might be relevant info, but if they are moving out of the area, or downsizing, or getting divorced, or whatever, that doesn't seem like that should influence OPs decision.