Confessions of an Open House Junkie

awgee_IHB

awgee_IHB

New member
<p>I keep on wondering why the realtor sitting on the open house doesn't ever ask me, "Well, if you aren't ready to buy, why the heck are you snooping through somebody else's house?"</p>

<p>I have many answers to that question, but I would like to hear some of yours. And what do you hear from the realtors these days, when you say you aren't ready to buy right now and are having alot of fun watching prices come down?</p>

<p>And what percentage of the open houses that you see are unoccupied? Have you noticed how many of them have no food in the pantry, minimal clothes in the closet, and <strong>NO CLUTTER</strong>? (they are staged) The question I want to ask is, "Why in the world did they buy another property before they sold this one?" And why is it, that half of the sitting agents now say while we are walking out the door, "The sellers are motivated." or some variation?</p>

<p>Did you ever notice that like going for a walk, open houses are free entertainment? I have been to a couple that I think they should have charged to walk through because the decorating was so incredible.</p>
 
That's why we used to spend a lot of time walking through models - the free entertainment. Plus, we got some good decorating ideas. It's interesting to see what's new in home design: larger kitchens and masters, more jack and jill baths, casitas, etc. It also gives us a clue about a neighborhood and the general construction prior to being ready to buy. There are <em>a lot</em> of homes in Floral Park with bad/weakened floors and/or poor foundations. Only by visiting various homes were we able to determine questionable construction/maintenance from good construction/maintenance.
 
I like walking through models and open houses because my wife and I can talk about what we like and don't like in a future house we might want. She tends to be an emotional buyer, so I need to keep my personal inventory of things I know she doesn't like to help her take off the rose colored glasses when it comes time to buy.





Also, I like to stay current on what is happening in home design and decor.
 
The latest response I have heard when I explain that waiting for home prices to decline is working well for us is, "Yes, but it you find a home you like at a good price, you need to jump on it." I haven't asked yet, but the immediate thought that comes to my mind is, "Why, If $1.6 mil is a good price now, won't $1 mil be a better price later?"
 
<p>I can't believe I'm beating NIR to respond to awgee's last comment ! :) Of course, the answer is "it's not"....financially, at least. Ignore the "Realtor-speak".</p>

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<p>The last open house I happened upon was last weekend in Palm Springs. I've been watching one condo development in particular as friends have a place there that I frequent. I knew that a unit had gone for 180K (got excited about that ! about 80K under all of the active listings) at foreclosure last month, the first foreclosure in that complex...with 2 more in the early stages. The unit was immediately listed at 269K. I saw it drop to 263K in 2 weeks (thanks Redfin !) </p>

<p>Now, armed with this knowledge (and on my way to the pool in my bathing suit) I walked in to the open house. I was expecting that perhaps the flipper had done a quick 2 week overhaul of the place to spruce it up. NOPE. What a pit. 20 yr old dirty carpet, ugly old lady furniture and popcorn ceilings. Not even a fresh paint job. </p>

<p>I picked up the info sheet and started quizzing the realtor (who had brought her own lawn chair inside !) When I asked her why the owners were selling, she said "They've bought another house and want to sell this to finance it's remodel". UM, LIE. I asked her why this unit was listed at higher than 7 or 8 others for sale in the complex, she said "well, it was just listed, but there is room for negotiation". HA, I'll bet ! </p>

<p>Then I let her have it about knowledge of the 180K foreclosure price. She just stood there with a sheepish look on her face, my friends got uncomfortable and wanted to leave....so we did. I felt very smug. Realtors should know that they are going to be dealing with a much more saavy buyer in the upcoming years....and not just sheeple that they've been depending on for years. </p>
 
Our neighbor just put their home on the market for a price that is in my opinion very overpriced. They had a constant stream of people to their open house yesterday. I was surprised at the level of interest that it generated. Maybe it was all of you guys looking at it





I can think of a million things I'd rather do on a nice weekend instead of looking at homes and realtors on a weekend.. But that's just me.
 
Eva,



There are 2 types of foundation for a house. They are foundation and slab foundation. Homes before 1945 utilized the raised foundation and homes built after WII utilized the speedier slab foundation.



The homes of the by gone era have a very distinctive appearance to them that no new homes today can duplicate. The front door is raised 2 feet off the path and sometime is part of a raised porch. The token porches for new homes are so close to the ground surface it does have the elevated privacy that old homes provide.



Raised foundation consisted of concrete or masonry perimeter walls 18” to 24” high and the floor joists span between the walls. Intermittent wood post piers were employed to reduce the floor span thus minimizing deflection. Sagging floor that you felt could have been one of the mid span support pier deteriorated and rotted away over the years. Over the year people over watered the planter next to the perimeter foundation wall and settlement could occur thus causing the floor to lean. Accessing to pipes and utility wires is very easy with the crawl space. Subterranean termite is rare for this type of foundation system since the wood portion of the home is raised so high off the moist and wet ground.



The slab foundation was a quick way to build several thousand homes at a same time for the returning GIs after WII. Very few of these neighborhoods became affluent neighborhoods. Neighborhood like Bellflower, Cypress, Stanton, Lakewood, Garden Grove and Hawaiian Garden were the first to employ this new and cheap slab foundation. Most of these homes the wood sill has rotted away due to its proximity to moisture. The homes built between 1945 and 1964 were some of the poorest construction used. A lot of cracked foundations were found in these homes.



The later homes built after 1964 builders poured a thicker slab along to avoid the wood sill being too close to the moist ground. But it is usually the fault of the home owner that caused the rotting wood by over piling mulch and planter mix along the base of the wall. All slab before 1992 utilized standard rusty steel rebar. The foundation was still weak and will not overcome ground movements. During this era builders were moving into the hills that made the land even more susceptible to movement due to altering the drainage pattern. The rebar used in foundation were cheap and rusty.



A leaky pipe with these slab foundation is a nightmare to find and repair. Pipes are all buried beneath the concrete and elbow up through the concrete slab. Most rupture occurred where the pipe elbow scraped against the raw concrete due to pipe movement caused by hot water temperature expansion and contraction. My previous homes had these problems.



Due to ground movement and hurried site grading work many builders needed a better concrete foundation to minimize liability. Some foundations built after 1992 and most foundations built after 1999 employed the post-tensioned slab methods. The steel tendons in the concrete have bolts that are machine tighten up to 3000 psi so the concrete is extremely stiffed. The concrete slab will not crack even a sink hole were to be found beneath it.



Hope this will shed light to your home visits to Floral Park and other new communities.



For those who are looking for a home this knowledge could help to decide the age of the home to be considered. Home built before 1945 are good and solid craftsmanship with good lumbers. Avoid homes built for the GIs and between 1945 and up to 1974 where the worst of the cut corner contractor practiced.

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I keep on wondering why the realtor sitting on the open house doesn't ever ask me, "Well, if you aren't ready to buy, why the heck are you snooping through somebody else's house?"





My response and the reason I do open houses...


Well, for the fresh baked delicious cookies, [takes one], bites one, says "Yummm", these are really good, grabs a flyer and heads off to see what they mean by "spacious" and "updated". =)
 
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