seeing a new house etiquiette

[krokill]

currently searching for a new house. I am tempted to ask my realtor to show us homes which we would be highly unlikely to offer (wrong but similar school district, priced slightly low or high) - simply to know what is available and what the market looks like and what the home feels like - i.e. to be more educated beyond scrolling through pics on trulia/zillow/redfin.

my wife says that's rude because you are removing families briefly and having the realtor come out. i then ask even if the chances of taking the house are slim but not zero - is this inappropriate/rude?

what say ye?

[Hatton]

What do you think you will discover that you do not find on Zillow photos? It is a waste of your time to look at houses that you will not buy.

[StarTrekDoc]

Waste of time for all stakeholders IMHO.

What exactly are you going gain from a house tour of a neighborhood that you're not interested in?

[G]

I think it is good to see a variety of houses so that your realtor knows what you want. This was ultimately instrumental in not wasting my time and key for a stat visit/offer to an ideal property.

[krokill]

so much more you can learn just driving to the property and seeing it. for example saw a home that was priced too high (saw as open house because we felt guilty) - this country theme with black carpets inside which my wife was not into. also seemed like no yard.

so it turns out the owner was very open negotiating price and the decor actually worked inside better than the pics. and the house was on a hill - hard to tell in the pics so it wasn't as bad.

basically making biggest purchase of our lives with a knowledge base based on trulia pics - that is my hangup.

im sensing more nays than yays.
thanks all

[CordMcNally]

Why don’t you just go to open houses instead of wasting everyone else’s time?

[krokill]

why would i prefer to waste other people's time rather than go to open houses? would definitely prefer open houses but you cant go to an open house if they don't have them.

[StarTrekDoc]

OP - big difference between seeing a home and offering site unseen vs kicking the tires on a house in a neighborhood with no intention to offer.

Your initial posting is suggesting the latter while the most recent post response is the former.

Yes, get to know potential neighborhoods and see those homes that are potential. Drive those neighborhoods and surrounding neighborhoods and support areas (shopping plazas) to get feel of area. Seeing individual homes in those secondary areas? Nah. -- unless a real true interest in it as a potential.

[GastroMastro]

currently searching for a new house. I am tempted to ask my realtor to show us homes which we would be highly unlikely to offer (wrong but similar school district, priced slightly low or high) - simply to know what is available and what the market looks like and what the home feels like - i.e. to be more educated beyond scrolling through pics on trulia/zillow/redfin.

my wife says that's rude because you are removing families briefly and having the realtor come out. i then ask even if the chances of taking the house are slim but not zero - is this inappropriate/rude?

what say ye?

I think it ok to do this just a few times to help learn the market but only if it is slightly above or below your price range. If your budget is 600 don’t see a 1.5 house for fun.

[VentAlarm]

If you’re a doctor paying >500k for a home and you feel like you need more data to feel confident in your decision, see as many houses as you’d like. You’re real estate agent is making 5 figures off the transaction - he or she can spare a couple extra afternoons.

Personally, I feel like I got enough from photos, driving by and seeing the houses I was interest - but it sounds like that isn’t you, which is fine.

[AR]

I think the main issue is that most (at least I) seem to have a hard time understanding the benefit to YOU in doing this.

However, if there is benefit, then I don't think you need to concern yourself with wasting your realtor's time or a seller's time. We viewed several houses that were quite low probability (but not zero).

[Tim]

My take is probably the same as others. If you are using an agent, they need to offer sufficient information for your choices. Can this be abused? Yes!
If there is a specific house or a couple, I would not hesitate. But I would have also scouted and drove by on my own. There is a learning curve.
Then it gets to a phone call for a new listing. Your agent can often give you background if you are seriously interested. Saves you and the agent time.
Window shopping on it's own is waste of the seller, you and the agents time. I expect a phone call on any property before it is listed that might be of interest.
I want the agent to "move mountains" is something is a serious candidate. At the same time, I will not use up an afternoon for "window shopping" if we have a base of knowledge of what we are looking for. By the way, you will get tired at looking at houses you have no interest in buying.

[Lordosis]

This is your first home purchase see as many houses as you darn well please. If your real estate agent complains get a different real estate agent. This is going to be one of the largest purchases of your life and you want to have as much data going into it as possible. A lot of real estate has been coming up and down very fast these days so if getting an idea looking in the neighborhoods will help you make that snap decision on another more important property than it might be worth it.

I would not stray too far from your intended price range however. If you go too low you will truly just be wasting your time. And if you go too high you might be tempted into buying more than you should.

[nephron]

I agree with the people saying that it is rude to waste people's time. Go to open houses if you want to look at houses you are not interested in purchasing. Look at photos on zillow as well. If you are certain you not going to make an offer on a house, it is rude to ask a realtor to schedule you a viewing of the house because it is a waste of time for the realtor and the owners of the home who have to clean the place and be out of the place during your viewing. Do unto others as you would have done to you. When you own a home that you are trying to sell, you will appreciate this more.

[Tangler]

What do you think you will discover that you do not find on Zillow photos? It is a waste of your time to look at houses that you will not buy.

Yeah, I would not visit homes that i know i have zero interest in buying.

I would only see houses that have a chance. I would look at a lot, look at many, go to open houses etc, but if you can tell it is not for you, be nice and skip it.

It is a big purchase, look carefully but don’t waste time looking at stuff that you will not buy.

Drive the neighborhood, walk the sidewalk, look at the schools associated with the area but don’t inconvenience the homeowner.

I was tired of looking at houses, and cannot imagine looking at places i would never buy!