I’m in real estate because it’s a people business, and I love meeting thirty new people every day. But over time, you start to sense a pattern. And in the case of open houses, I get the same types each and every weekend…

1. The Cast of Characters…
AT AN
OPEN HOUSE
These are the people actively
looking to purchase a
home. Their levels of
organization vary, but most of
them carry MLS print-outs, filefolders, or feature sheets from
previous houses they’ve viewed.
Many of them carry their
agents’ business cards.
Active Buyers
These people love to show off
their knowledge of real
estate. “Has there been a prehome inspection done?” Clearly,
their television sets are stuck on
HGTV around the clock, and they
go to open houses to apply their
knowledge.
They enter with coffee in hand (I’ll give
you three guesses and the first two
are Starbucks), wearing $90 jogging
pants and their SUV’s are parked
backwards on the wrong side of the
street since they don’t care about
anyone or anything.
They snicker at everything in the house,
and communicate with eachother by
using facial expressions rather than
words.
Buzz Word Experts
Yuppies
These people smile as soon as
they walk inside, and don’t stop
until they leave. Everything is
AMAZING! “Wow, these floors
are GORGEOUS!” “That
basement is GREAT!” “What a
pretty backyard!” These people
can’t stop gleaming, for
whatever reason.
Happy Go-Lucky
But these people ask you
questions you have no idea how
to answer, like “How many of the
neighbors are renting and how
many own their houses?” They
pick fights with you about the
smallest things, complain that the
bedrooms are too small, or tell
you AND your potential buyers the
house is overpriced, and let you
know that it wont sell.
The Disgruntled