is it still considered polite/routine to give a tour of your house when guests come?

[Anonymous]

We just built a house and a few (good) friends asked for a tour. So did some neighbors. I don’t offer but if they ask I am happy to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the Midwest and this is normal. Lived all over and the only other place it was normal was Texas. My DH thought it was really weird because he grew up in a no-house-tour place.

Now I live on the west coast and it is decidedly not a house tour place, although coinciding with this thread we went to a party at new friends’ last night and they offered a tour! New friends are from the Midwest so it must be a regional thing.

Dang girl..what brings you to the east coast forum?

Like I said, we’ve lived all over and this is a habit I didn’t drop with the move!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't give tours because our place is old and kind of messy. But I do feel like it's a bit rude to not offer, especially because the last few homes I've visited have offered tours. They were all new homes post-pandemic, maybe that is why.

Rude not to offer a tour? More like rude to ask for a tour IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Q: is it weird if a sibling tore their house down, rebuilt with an architect, and when you visited the first time, you mentioned you’d love to see it and how it turned out and they said no? Especially if they spent time showing you the plans?

That happened to me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Anonymous]

For family or sometimes when you buy a new house.

Something like—we bought our first house at 22 and our similar-aged friends were curious what you could get for the $, so we’d show them around if they wanted.

We now live in a 175 year old house designed by a famous (in our city, not DC) 1800s architecture firm (designed libraries/museums/etc in our current city), so sometimes we get a lot of questions from people who come over who like historic houses, so we will offer to let them look around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes give me a tour of your home. I also want to know how much you paid for the house and what year.

Realtor.com

[Anonymous]

We bought a Victorian mansion built in the 1800's. In a lot of ways we've modernized it, so people who are native San Franciscans like to see the whole thing, and we generally show family since we're from the East Coast and they haven't seen these before.

[Anonymous]

We have a nice house and I don’t mind tours for close friends and family.

[Anonymous]

I am from the mid Atlantic and find this custom bizarre, but it totally is a custom. I think the most likely to practice this are boomers/greatest gen originating from the Midwest.

I don’t think there’s a class thing attached and I don’t think it’s universal - but there’s totally a certain segment of the population who think house tours to new guests is totally normal. It’s so awkward.

[Anonymous]

Friends who just bought a new place give each other tours that's common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Close family first time at your house yes...otherwise just the main floor.

This.

[Anonymous]

It never even occurred to me. "Come on in, we're sitting in the living room" "oh, sure, the bathroom is right around that corner". Maybe my house just isn't big enough to require a tour?

[Anonymous]

We built a custom house 10 years ago and I HATED when people asked for a tour.
Even good friends. I don’t need/want people traipsing through my bedroom. Let’s normalize not doing this.

[Anonymous]

It’s funny, I remember this being de rigueur when I was growing up. But I can’t remember the last time I was offered a tour. I guess it has fallen out of favor. Fine with me, I prefer to be private.

[Anonymous]

My shoulders are hunched up in full cringe mode at the thought of you giving a tour of your home or someone asking for a tour. Eeek