Open houses and private showings: what to look at and what to ask

Open house or private showing

An open house is hosted by the listing side. Anyone may walk in, you will usually be asked to sign in, and the host represents the seller. A private showing is booked in advance and gives you time to look at the home without a crowd. Many buyers see a home first at an open house and return privately before making an offer.

Massachusetts requires a real estate licensee to give you a written disclosure of whom they represent at the first personal meeting about a specific residential property. At an open house, the agent can meet this by posting the disclosure where visitors can see it or handing it out with other written materials. Read it: it tells you whose interests the person answering your questions is bound to protect. Bring the same comparison sheet to every home, as described in the guide to comparing homes.

Read the room

If you have time, stay a little longer than you need to. Count the visitors. Notice whether they walk through in two minutes or open closets, measure rooms and question the host. If a sign-in sheet sits on the table, the number of names is another signal.

Visitors do not all make offers, but heavy traffic means competition. A very busy open house usually means one of two things: the home is unusually good, or the price was set low to draw a crowd and several offers. Either way, have your financing documents ready and expect the offer deadline to matter.

Look past the staging

Good staging helps a home sell, which is why sellers pay for it. Furniture, art and fresh flowers leave with the seller. Focus on what stays:

• Layout and ceiling height: changing them is expensive, and the layout also decides how air moves through the home
• Smell: a persistent musty odor in an older home is hard to remove
• Light: in winter, bare trees let light in that leaves will block from spring to fall
• Noise: return at rush hour or on a weekday if you first saw the home on a quiet weekend
• Windows: check seals and sills; replacing windows is rarely cheap
• Kitchen ventilation: whether the range hood vents outside matters if you cook often
• In a house, the attic insulation and the basement: water stains, a sump pump, the age of the boiler, water heater and air conditioning
• In a condo, the common areas: clean, well-kept hallways and mail areas say something about the management

Outside the front door

A home’s surroundings decide part of daily life and part of its future price. Most buyers react to the same physical features, so a feature that bothers you will probably bother the next buyer too. The home may be priced lower for that reason, which is fine if you accept the trade.

• A lot that sits low: water in the basement is more likely, and if the building is in a FEMA special flood hazard area, a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender requires flood insurance; elsewhere a lender may still ask for it. Check the address on FEMA’s flood map
• A busy intersection, a main road or a highway: noise, headlights at night and heavier traffic
• A school drop-off route or the edge of a playing field, a fire station, a rail line or a flight path: noise at predictable hours
• High-voltage transmission lines: many buyers avoid them, which narrows resale demand. Utility easements can also limit what may be built or planted near the line; your attorney’s title review will show them
• A pool or extensive gardens: real upkeep in a short New England season, either in money or in your own time
• Large trees close to the house: falling limbs, shade and the cost of trimming or removal

Questions for the listing agent

Ask before you leave, and write down the answers. Each one is a statement to confirm later through documents, permits and your inspection.

• When are offers due, and will the seller look at offers before the deadline? Has the seller received any yet?
• Does the seller have a preferred closing date?
• How long has the seller owned the home?
• Ages of the roof, heating system, water heater and air conditioning; the heating fuel; twelve months of utility costs
• Renovations: what, when, by whom, and with which permits
• Any history of water in the basement, a radon test, or pest treatment
• For a condo: rental restrictions, the share of units rented, the pet policy, recent or planned special assessments, and the reserve balance