Why shouldn’t first time home buyers buy at an open house? Open houses can be traps for first time home buyers. You can OVER PAY. You can end up with NO REPRESENTATION. And you can end up with BUYER’S REMORSE.
Why would you over pay at an open house? Especially in today’s market, open houses can be feeding frenzies for first time home buyers. They are generally crawling with buyers, so even if no one else is interested in the house you may have the perception that it will be a bidding war and therefore end up offering more 
than necessary to get the house.
How do I make sure I have representation? We’ve written past blogs about Who the Listing Agent Represents. Dual agency (working with the listing agent) is something you want to avoid like the PLAGUE, especially considering first time home buyers generally don’t have to pay for their OWN representation.
How do open houses increase buyer’s remorse? Again, if there is a lot of activity at the open house, you may get emotional and make a snap decision. This may lead to buyer’s remorse as you may have decided not to buy the house under different circumstances.
So how do I get inside the house? All first time home buyers should hire a professional real estate agent. This will ensure that they have their own representation and a professional looking out for their best interest. Your real estate agent will schedule PRIVATE showings so you can view the home without the unnecessary duress of an open house.
Don’t make the biggest financial decision of your life without getting educated! If you like to find out more about hiring a real estate agent or the home buying process in general, please go to our Calendar/Reservations page and sign up for one of our FREE First Time Home Buyer workshops.
