Justlooking30

Addendum to the above question, to add insult to injury, the SAME DAY that we were turned down from seeing the 208k house, they dropped the price to 199k. I think we would have been in a MUCH stronger position if it turns out we liked the house and wanted to submit a offer without him talking to the listing agent beforehand. (Ran into character limit or would have included)

I’d like to include that my agent has been a very good resource prior to now, and I really don’t want to change horses this late in the game. I’d just as soon not let him go, but I don’t want to keep second guessing him either. - Mon Sep 21 2009, 10:03

I generally go to open houses I'm mildly curious about, but with minimum interest in buying so I don't waste my buyer agent's time. If I do become interested, I contact my agent for a second viewing.

I prefer not to sign in so I don't get contacted, but I will if asked and always identify my buyer agent by name to stop the line of questioning in its tracks. I think the whole idea of asking for IDs negates the concept of an "open" house - you might as well deal exclusively with showings by appointment at that point. Which is a fine approach, but I think you lose potential customers that way.

I appreciate printouts of the MLS listing, everything else is just fluff.

I could care less about snacks and drinks, and go out of my way to avoid them. I'm there to look at the home, not exchange small talk over cookies.

I consider the role of the agent the same of any other salesperson, provide information if needed, but otherwise stay out of the way so I can see the house unimpeded and come to my own conclusions. If I see an agent following me, I'm just going to make an excuse and leave. The seller needs to take responsibility for securing valuables so potential buyers can view the house without being followed by a security guard. Agents who are determined to hound buyers really shouldn't be holding open houses, and it's somewhat comforting to read that agents with those views are generally against them.

I'm comfortable with reasonable precautions such as taking off shoes and such, if the house in question calls for it. White carpeting, certainly. Wood floors, bad carpeting, or clutter I might step on? Not so much. - Wed Aug 12 2009, 11:47

I recently looked at a FSBO property that was very nice, and I would have loved to place an offer on it. But it was priced too high and they didn't want to pay the 3% to my buyer's agent. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about real estate, but since I am a first time home buyer I want an agent to protect myself. Rolling the 3% into my loan so "they" could pay him afterward would have pushed what I needed for cash on hand into an unsustainable range, not to mention a price point in danger of not assessing for the loan I needed.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the idea of FSBO. But I think those situations work best when the owners have some idea of how real estate works, and are dealing with a properties that is likely to attract buyers on their second or third home. IE - Ones with past experience. I think people that have only owned one home, and are selling to first time buyers really shouldn't be FSBO, and if I had to guess I'd say those are the ones that end up going to realtors in higher numbers. - Mon Jul 13 2009, 09:39