Four Things An Open House Might Be Hiding
If you are in the market for a new home, touring open houses will most likely be a part of your search efforts. While open houses are a great way to see multiple properties in one day, these can also be set up in a way that can hide common flaws. Here are four things that an open house might actually cover up during a showing.
1. Stains & Blemishes
If there are stains on the walls or flooring, trouble spots can easily be covered up at an open house. If artwork seems strategically placed or there are floor rugs over carpeting, these might be covering up blemishes below. This isn't something that you would necessarily investigate at an open house. Come back with your real estate agents later on in order to look underneath floor and wall coverings.
2. Bad Neighbors
It can be hard to size up a home's neighborhood from a quick walkthrough, but one thing that your open house might not want you to know about are bad neighbors. A neighborhood might seem nice and quiet on a Sunday afternoon. If you are serious about a home, make sure to drive by at different times to investigate if there might be noisy neighbors late into the evening.
3. Traffic Noises
Something that might not be brought up at an open house is if a home is right in the middle of rush hour traffic, flight patterns or by train tracks. A home might be quiet on the weekends, only to find out that freeway traffic picks up or trains run nearby during the week. Be sure to do a little research on transportation that is close by and might be noisier than you anticipated.
4. Bad Smells
If you walk into an open house and are overpowered by the smell of potpourri or baked cookies, the realtor on site might be masking other smells in the home. If doors and windows are open letting in fresh air, it can be hard to make sure that there aren't lingering pet odors or cigarette smells. Come back when the home has been closed off for a bit and make sure that the open house wasn't working hard to mask odors.
Just because an open house might not be showcasing a home's flaws doesn't mean that you should discredit a property altogether. It is important that you have all of the facts on a home so that you can make an educated purchase. Try to find out as much about a property as you can before making an offer.
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