"Nosy Neighbors" using Realtors to see houses

[soccerdad72]

I'll have to agree with most everyone - walking through a house during an open house is fine, but wasting a realtor's time with an appointment to look at a house you have no intention of buying is inconsiderate.

 

[NewRVLady]

Interesting, I guess the rules are quite different in Canada. My realtor told me that I was not allowed to take pictures of homes I was viewing. I was mainly going to private viewings with him, but I also went to some Open Houses with my bff. Agent told me it was because of privacy laws, and security concerns.

Interesting. Nowadays many homes have 360 degree videos of EACH room online

as to the OP-very immature, IMO. The realtor should pre-approve them before showing

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I had a crazy neighbor. Looking back I should have got a restraining order. He would sometimes approach prospective buyers when they parked.

One night I got a call from the showing service. The usual story about some buyer who was super interested but only in town one night. I had five small children at the time, 4 with colds, so I asked if it would be okay if we hid away in the bonus room over the garage.

Imagine my surprise when my neighbor opens the bonus room door! I guess he was just bringing curious friends through my house at almost 8pm! I always parked within sight of my house after that. How creepy!

I always thought he didn't like our family. I could write a book about his craziness, but about 4 months after selling our home our realtor called us because the new owners were mad that we did not report him as a nuisance neighbor.

 

[scrapquitler]

Open House, yes.
Schedule an appointment? No.
Post pictures? NEVER. Very rude.

When there's an open house in the neighborhood, I always go, especially if someone I know is looking to buy at that time.

I do troll Zillow and look at interiors all the time, especially of houses that I'm curious about.

 

[Andtototoo]

Yeah it happens all the time! I don't know why more selling agents don't require prospective buyers to show pre-qualification in order to see a house. We did that and it cuts out that nonsense.

We had that happen the last time we sold -- wasted so much time with young couples who were hoping to be able to afford their dream home some day and wanted a chance to tour their "someday" dream home. Geez.

We are getting ready to sell our house now and all of the realtors we've interviewed have highly recommended limiting showings only to pre-qualified buyers. We don't have a fancy or historic home, but it is the biggest in the neighborhood and we've kept it up nicely, so the realtors said that in their experience, neighbors will make appointments to get inside such a home.

I cannot imagine doing that. It's so incredibly rude and entitled. "I want to see inside that home that's owned by people I wouldn't even wave to when I saw them, so I'm going to make an appointment and force them to vacate their home and waste not just their time, but a realtor's too." Total jerk move.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

We're in the process of selling our home, and while our realtor requires pre-qualification before showings, we've still been amazed at the number of people who have admitted they just wanted to see inside the home. According to our agent, it is a hobby for some people, which I find very odd and rude. We don't live in a community where Open Houses are particularly common, mainly because all you're likely to get are lookyloos, so the only agents who seem to hold them are the ones trying to pick up new clients.

The oddest explanation we've heard was the person who admitted they were not sure if they even wanted to move, but thought they should tour homes to see if they like what is out there in case they choose to move in a year...Since it's highly unlikely that the same homes will be on the market, what is the point of seeing if you like what is available?

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Interesting. Nowadays many homes have 360 degree videos of EACH room online

as to the OP-very immature, IMO. The realtor should pre-approve them before showing

I think the issue is that those pictures are staged and posted online with the seller's permission. We just purchased a new home (which is obviously why we're selling our current home) and I was amazed when we toured a few homes to see what people left lying around. Brokerage statements, tax forms, credit card statements, and other amazingly personal items were routinely in plain view. While the sellers are idiots for leaving things like that out, and while we never looked closely at anything we saw, I'd imagine that posting photos containing those items could be an invasion of privacy and therefore it's a blanket policy to never take photographs inside another person's home that is for sale.

 

[daughtersrus]

We had that happen the last time we sold -- wasted so much time with young couples who were hoping to be able to afford their dream home some day and wanted a chance to tour their "someday" dream home. Geez.

We are getting ready to sell our house now and all of the realtors we've interviewed have highly recommended limiting showings only to pre-qualified buyers. We don't have a fancy or historic home, but it is the biggest in the neighborhood and we've kept it up nicely, so the realtors said that in their experience, neighbors will make appointments to get inside such a home.

I cannot imagine doing that. It's so incredibly rude and entitled. "I want to see inside that home that's owned by people I wouldn't even wave to when I saw them, so I'm going to make an appointment and force them to vacate their home and waste not just their time, but a realtor's too." Total jerk move.

I don't think this really matters much. It seems that the letter may not mean anything.

DD has been looking to buy for quite some time. She's put a few offers in but all have fallen through. The last one her realtor insisted the she have a preapproval letter with the offer. We have a close family friend that DD will be using for the mortgage. She had been in the mortgage business for almost 25 years. It was a Saturday and she explained that it isn't possible to get an approval letter that day. It needs to go to underwriting, verify income, debt... She could get a prequalified letter but nit approval. Anyway DD told the realtor. The realtor went off on DD saying any lender should be able to approve you 24/7. The realtor had a friend write the approval letter. DD questioned het and the reply was "its standard in the business". No credit check, no verification of employment, she didn't even ask for the social security number. DD dumped the realtor.

Long story short. As a seller I wouldn't put too much faith in any letter from a buyer. They seem meaningless. Our friend said that many people will type up a letter on their own and no one checks until a contract is accepted and a loan is actually applied for.

To the OP, I know my SIL and BIL do this. I think it's rude to waste everyone's time but the look at it as a hobby. Even going to open houses are rude if you act like you're interested in purchasing it.

 

[ariel71]

Sounds like this is becoming a hobby for your SIL...I'm having visions of Skylar's sister Marie (in Breaking Bad) who began visiting open houses to combat boredom and neglect within her marriage. She gave elaborately made up stories of who she was and why she was there to the realtors and stole a little "trophy" from each one.

I immediately thought of Marie before even opening the thread. Hide the teaspoons!

 

[jerseygal]

My SIL has posted photos on Facebook recently, of two houses that she and my brother viewed with Realtors. One was in the town my parents live in, and one in the town that they reside in. Both are old, historic homes that are for sale. She posted about 20 photos of each...interior, exterior, furnishings, even a cat, etc. She states that she loves old homes and is only being "nosy" and how much she loves my brother for going with her. She states several times that they cannot afford them and are just going through them because they want to see the interior. They are not shopping for any house.

I have no idea if they tell the Realtor that they are not really intending to buy any house or not.

Is this something people do? It seems super rude to me. That Realtor has to take time out of their weekend, the family has to leave for the showing, etc. I can see if it's an "Open House" , just walking through, but, to me, you aren't wasting anyone's time.

I know, in the whole grand scheme of things, this is a little thing....but it bugs me. We've sold 5 houses. At times I had tiny babies and it was a PAIN to keep the house clean and leave so the house could be shown. I'd be irritated if all those times it was because of nosy neighbors.

Is this common? Enlighten me!

Must have A LOT OF TIME on their hands, lol! "Don't care that much",.. TOO TIME CONSUMING! LOL!

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks everyone! Weird indeed!

 

[LuvGoofy6]

Years after our family moved, our old house was for sale again and there was an open house. This wasn't a fancy home, pretty average. So mom and a few of us kids (adults now) stopped by. We told the Realtor we were just curious to see what changed, and she said it was OK. OMG, it had gone downhill since we left. Same old decrepit boiler, signs of roof leaks, doors painted black, same '60s orange formica counters. Just awful. We were sorry we went.

I have to admit that I have had this same thing happen. We saw one of our first homes for sale and wanted to see it again and have our daughter see it since she spent her first 5 years in it. We watched and watched for an open house and were lucky because eventually they did have an open house. When we went to the open house we told the realtor why we were there. Funny thing is, if my husband and I were empty nesters we would have considered buying it again! It was a good size for one child but we had two teenagers and it just wouldn't work for us at that time.