Dos and Don’ts of Viewing Homes—an Etiquette Primer

With spring buying season in full swing, potential homebuyers are flooding into homes they saw on realtor.com® and in person with the help of a REALTOR®. It’s an exciting time, full of possibility and hope,but it is easy to forget that, while you’re playing home inspector, the space currently belongs to someone else. Still, buyers need to get a full picture of what they’re buying. So, where do you draw the line; what is permitted and what should you restrain yourself from doing? The National Association of REALTORS® consumer site HouseLogic has buyers covered with house tour etiquette tips. When it comes to checking out closets and storage, for example, feel free to peek (you’ll need to know this, after all), but try not to disturb anything. As for snapping photos, feel free to take what you need to make a decision, but think twice before posting—remember that someone still lives there, and they may not want their personal valuables displayed for the world to see (especially if you’ve already identified where the house is located).

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Read HouseLogic’s tips on open house etiquette. Talk to a prospective homebuyer to see if they have any questions on what they can or cannot do while walking through a home. Ask a REALTOR® for tips and about some of the more interesting things they’ve seen people do at open houses.

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