Open houses are great. What a wonderful collection of folks who may at any time walk right in your front door. And each one is different from the next….
1) The Tourist: “Oh, we’re from Ohio and just visiting. We love to visit open houses”.
2) The Blind- I once had a blind couple at an open house. I wasn’t prepared.
3) The Complainer- He had no intention of buying, but loved to piss and moan about how much he didn’t like the house. A huge help and a real mood enhancer, that guy.
4) WTF? One buyer brought his dog. Dog partially fell down the spiral staircase. Buyer bought condo anyway. I didn’t see that one coming…
5) The Professional Lookers- One more than one occasion, I will see folks 4 years after our first introduction. They are still looking….and looking, and looking.
6) OMG- I want it! That is sometimes a sure sign of someone who will never take my calls or return an email. That happens more often that not…
7) The Know It All- You can’t tell these people ANYTHING they don’t already think they know. They know the area, the street, the values, comps, etc etc. I once gave one of these buyers my wrong phone number. It worked- never heard from them again..
8) Where’s the driveway? One woman from the suburbs once asked me this. She couldn’t understand that a condo could be sold without parking, let alone a driveway.
I understand that many open house buyers are “just looking”. I have no problem with that…. So if you see me sitting a Philadelphia Condo Open House….come on in!