Are Nosey Neighbors a Red Flag During Open Houses? - Two Experiences Today

[Anonymous]

I have sold several houses and put virtually everything in storage, then staged it as if it were a furnished model home. So the closets had 6 folded sweaters, a couple of cute dresses and some hats on the upper shelf. Nothing in the personal drawers.

We lived out of suitcases. Luckily, the houses sold in less than a week.

I hope the nosy neighbors thought I was a minimalist clean freak.

If you are selling, you want the neighbors to come - they might pass on the info to a friend who wants to move near them. And if you are a realtor, it's great to make connections with potential future clients. As a neighbor, I visit the open houses to do research and get a feel for how my house compares to the competition, should we decide to sell in a few years.

I went to an open house in my neighborhood a few years ago and liked the agent so much, that if we decide to sell in the next 5 or 10 years, I'm calling him, and not the agent who helped us buy the house.

OP needs to chill just a little.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like a Foxhall issue

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We always go to open houses in the neighborhood but we tell the agent upfront that we’re neighbors and just looky-loos. Then we make ourselves scarce. Many houses are similar to ours and I’ve gotten some good design ideas.

This is us too. I am always trying to see what they did in a certain closet or what bathroom remodel choices work and don't work. We don't take up the agents time and just quietly move through checking it out.

How is opening a closet violating someone's privacy? They are selling that closet, so it will be inspected. Clean it out if you don't want people to look inside during the open house!

Agents invite neighbors because in general the more eyes on a house, the better. People talk and that is good for business.

Check the medicine cabinets too. It's always good to see how someone else is organizing their medications.

I know this is snark - but honestly medication and other sensitive items need to be removed before you allow the public into your home. Even better if you move all your sh*t out beforehand. Who cares if they are neighbors or not - it’s called an OPEN house and you have zero control over who stops by. OP you sound rigid and out of touch with how open houses work..

We are selling our house but can’t move or buy until we sell (school and HCOL area so need the money from sale to make our offer worthwhile- think new area is way over ask, no contingencies and many all cash offers). So we removed sensitive things but we still live in the house. Nothing we can do about it. We didn’t do an open house for this reason- many people on here don’t understand that so many people can’t just move out and stage the house!

We had someone do something on camera and a gift card I had in a drawer that I was going to use that week went missing. Someone moved a big piece of our furniture. We only had agent showings and I told my realtor and made notes. She said everyone had pre-approval/ proof of funds for our price range and all came with an accredited realtor. It’s crimes of opportunity.

For the record we removed a lot of our stuff and staged with what we have so it’s not like these homes that are cluttered.

If you’re a serious buyer with an agent by all means open my closets and drawers. We had someone ask where we put X because we packed it away from the kitchen for more space. So they clearly looked through everything. But if you’re a neighbor not serious about buying do a quick walk through and then leave. Get your ideas and move along.

This is the main reason we didn’t do an open house. We knew many of our neighbors would come in- many have been inside our house but I knew two who would look through everything and make comments based on experiences with them previously and I reuse to do it

Homes in desirable areas and prices correctly will go just with showings.

I agree with this.