Open Homes

[Tia Maria]

I've just been to an Open Home where an estate agent got quite aggressive because I wouldn't leave my contact details.

When we first arrived and realised we were going to buy a property I always left my contact details. We're now in a situation where we could stay in our current house or could move if the right property came along, in our case a 4 bed.

So we go to open homes to get a feel for the market as well as to see if we like a particular property. If we don't like the poperty, we don't leave our details and I politely say, "we'll contact you if we're interested.".

This has never been a problem before, but this agent was quite confrontational and I think his manner would have bullied many people into signing.

Does anyone else not leave their details? Anyone else come across this kind of high pressured sales?

Cheers

Tia

[eternalkiwi]

Real Estate firms view the details register as part of their risk management/security systems for the vendor, which could be why the salesperson was rather emphatic about getting your details.
Particularly if they have previously had bad experiences with people at open homes or people who did not leave their details

[willsken]

To me "open home" is just that. People can come in off the street and look around the property. I don't see you should have to give your info out to anyone. Good for you, I hate people who try and bully you into something you don't want to do.

I went into an agent’s office to get details of houses in certain roads I was happy to live in. All I wanted was details and the estate agent was very very pushy about making appointments to view property there and then (even though I hadn't even seen the details to any of them!) Soon told her where to get off!

[Moorf]

Would you have been more understanding if, instead of being confrontational and aggressive he explained that it's not only for his records but also as a record of people who entered the property. It's MAINLY for their follow-ups but, having held several open homes to sell our old house I certainly wanted to know the details of people who were turning up.

Our agent also made people take their shoes off before entering, despite ours being wooden floors throughout. She explained that while it's not only polite not to go trogging round other peoples homes with your shoes on, it also means she can ensure everyone who went in.. came out.... she told us of an agent who had locked up and left the house and an intruder, who had hidden in a wardrobe, robbed the place.

I also think it puts people off who make a hobby of visiting open homes, purely for a nosey. I personally don't like the things, loads of strangers and alot of neighbours poking around the place...

[Moorf]

Would you have been more understanding if, instead of being confrontational and aggressive he explained that it's not only for his records but also as a record of people who entered the property. It's MAINLY for their follow-ups but, having held several open homes to sell our old house I certainly wanted to know the details of people who were turning up.

Sorry for the echo!!

[Tia Maria]

Yes, it did occur to me that they might be worried about theft etc. But then anyone up to no good would just leave false contact details anyway.

It is also possible for people here to opt for viewings by appointment only, so this would be an option for people who weren't comfortable with the Open Home situation.

I confess I have been to properties that I've been unlikely to buy, but it hasn't been to have a nosey, but to be able to guage the property market.

In this case we were looking at a property on a street we would like to live on, several have come up on this street recently some in budget, some not. The price can vary by as much as $500,000 and we need to know why. Because if a property came up that we did like, we would have to act quickly and feel certain the price was right (one of the other properties got an offer within an hour.).

But I am not actively looking in the sense that I want agents to contact me and I also don't want agents to know too much about my sitution as they can be quite 'sharky' round here.

Cheers

Tia

[Marco]

Sorry, but I do not see the problem.
I can agree with Moorf from the seller's point, since I would like to know who would enter my property on an open home when I - as a seller - would not be around.

On the other hand, I have visited a lot of Open Homes and it is very each - as a foreigner - to say, that you are still moving around and just leave a mobile phone number. The worst thing that happen is that the same day or one day later that real estate agent gives you a ring and ask what you think of the property: you just answer and that's it.

I can't see the problem with that.
Cheers,
Anita

[Tia Maria]

He is the first agent to act this way, so on that basis alone, I'm glad he doesn't have my number!

And as I said before, I don't think as a seller, asking people to give you a name and number, tells you who has entered your property as they can just lie. The agent would really need to get these details before you viewed the property to be able to claim any security value.

Maybe you're right though, maybe I've been watching too many TV programmes about NZ estate agents. I think the one last night was called the School of Home Truths. They all give you the impression that because there is such big money to be made, the estate agent is willing to bully both buyer and seller to get the commission. It highlighted various tactics that could see you $10,000s poorer!

Cheers

Tia

[willowshouse]

Just trying to be a little kind to the agent here -

I think it helps them enormously to be able to say to the vendor - look at the people we had through here today (in terms of convincing them that they are worth their money!?). I do always leave my details even if I'm not interested - I actually find it quite liberating to give them my honest thoughts when they phone me up .. it also usually sparks a discussion which I am genuinely interested in having as the more opinions/info I have, the stronger I feel my position is in making a decision when I find the right property. I say, leave them your details and when they call you get as much info as possible about the property and why they have priced it as they have, what experience they have in the area and if you have a clear idea of what you want (and it isn't the house you viewed) tell them to call you when they have it on their books!

That aside, no-one has the right to be rude to you about your decision .. that's just ....... rude!

Dawn

[sizzlingbadger]

We're selling our house at the moment with Open Homes held most Sundays.

Having now experienced it ourselves from the vendors point of view, I feel very different about them. I no longer want to go sticking beaking at other peoples homes just for the sake of it. We've got an offer in on a house with a one of the conditions stating we have to sell this one before we can get going with other conditions.

I find people that just want to waste time viewing properties for the sake of it get the hopes up of the vendors. I'm not sure why you just can't look on realestate and open2view websites to get an idea. That's the way we've done it as we feel it's unfair nosing around just to get an idea of price when we've got no intention of buying.