I saw a few things at open houses these past couple weekends that got under my skin a little bit, but what else is new?

I feel as if the general public doesn’t respect that any given house is also somebody’s home, and they feel it’s their right to do as they see fit…

I’ve written a few choice pieces on this subject before; most of which were comical in nature.

There are all “kinds” of people who attend open houses, many of which are characters you just want to follow around and watch so that you can do impressions of them later that night when you’ve had a few drinks at a dinner party.

There’s the nosey neighbours and my favourite – the hobbyists who collect feature sheets and keep track of every open house within a ten block radius of where they live.

Normally, I can tolerate these people and all others that come through the front doors of somebody’s home.

But in the last few years, or maybe it’s an even newer trend than that, I feel as if the public has lost all respect for the homeowner.

I feel as if the public is overly-entitled.  Perhaps they’re a little bitter as well.  I know that the market is red-hot and has been increasing for the last sixteen years, but it seems to me that buyers now feel that as long as sellers are getting top dollar for their homes, then they can disrespect the home, seller, agent, and the entire listing process.

I was at an open house on Saturday afternoon with a client, and it was pretty slow overall.  We were one of two groups in the house, but the other group consisted of a Realtor, a young couple, and a contractor.

This other couple was standing in the kitchen, and just had this “vibe” about them as if they had a right to be left undisturbed.

They didn’t make any attempt to keep their voices down, and what’s worse is they were being incredibly negative about the home.

The contractor was recommending gutting the entire kitchen, which likely got about a C+ or B- grade in my opinion.  It was servicable to about 50% of the buyer pool, but I didn’t think it needed to be “gutted.”  Maybe just “improved.”

The young lady had the look of a complete snob who has had everything handed to her in life, and she didn’t hold back anything about the kitchen.

“What were they thinking with these counter-tops, seriously?  It’s like, if you can’t afford to buy a house and properly finish it, then don’t buy it in the first place.”

Keep in mind, they said this as I was walking my clients through the kitchen.  Not to mention, the Realtor was standing only feet away in the dining room.

The girl continued, “I couldn’t live like this.  We’d have to gut this thing down to the studs.  It’s a shame.”

Around this time, the front door opened, and another couple came in; a slightly older couple.

I went downstairs with my clients, and I assumed (and hoped) that when I returned, the snobby couple would be gone.  Three or four minutes later, not only was the snobby couple still there, but the older couple was in the kitchen as well.

Do you think that the snobby couple kept their thoughts and opinions to themselves as this older couple made their way through?

Nope.

The older couple tried to shuffle past, and the gentleman made a joke, like, “Ooops! ‘Scuse us!  Tight squeeze isn’t it?”

The Realtor with the young couple shot back, “Yeah tell me about it.  Tiny kitchen, narrow stairs.  How do they live like this?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  I wanted to smack them.  All of them.

We made our way through the dining room and up onto the second floor, and after exploring the three bedrooms and one bathroom, we came back down.  The Realtor was standing in the living room just watching this young couple, their agent, and their contractor.

She was listening to them discuss tearing down the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room, and she seemed to be shaking her head.

I asked her, “How long have they been here?”

She said, “They were here when I arrived shortly before 2PM.”

It was now almost 3:30PM, so I told the Realtor, “So tell them to leave.”

She chuckled as if I was joking, and I said, “Seriously.  Get them out of here.  They’re being rude, negative, and they’re talking loudly about the house when other potential buyers are within earshot.  Tell them that if they want to do a home inspection or whatever it is they think they’re doing right now, they can book an appointment through your office and come back when 20 people aren’t trekking through the house with wide-eyes and optimism.”

She nodded, but I’m sure she was just placating me.

We left, and this bothered me for the rest of the day.

If this was my listing and I was doing the open house, I would have kicked them out after the first negative comment was made above a whisper.

It’s my JOB to sell this house, and I’m working for the seller.  I have to act as if the seller is sitting right there with me, and there’s no way that the seller would condone some snobby girl laughing about the state of the kitchen as other potential buyers walk by.

That couple didn’t have any right to be in the house.  It was a priviledge.

Their Realtor should have known better, but this city is full of crappy Realtors, so I won’t hold my breath for fear of asphxiation.

The public needs to realize that this is somebody’s home and it’s not just a doll-house that they can come in and adjust however they see fit.  They need to respect the homeowners, the Realtor doing the open house, and the other people who are viewing the home.

Two weekends ago on a Sunday, I was looking at a house in Leslieville around 1:30PM and I went to leave with my client at 2:00PM or so.

As I approached the front door, a man walked in and said, “Hello.”

I paused and then said, “Are you showing?”

He said, “Showing what?”

I replied, “Are you showing the home?  You’re an agent, right?”

He said, “Oh, ha, no, no.  I’m just here for the open house.”

It was 2:00PM and if there was an open house from 2-4PM, I didn’t know about it.  I was showing the property to a buyer-client during an appointment that I had booked through the listing brokerage, and I was now going to lock up the house and leave.

I told the man, “Oh well I’m just an agent showing the house so you’ll have to step outside and wait for the listing agent to get here.”

He sighed and said, “Well it’s 2PM – there’s an open house.  What’s the difference?  It’s not like I’m going to steal anything.  God.”

It wasn’t exactly a fight to get him out, but I felt like I was shooing a cat out the front door.

He stepped outside the front door, but only about one foot outside.  I could feel him breathing down my neck as I locked the door and put the key back in the lockbox.

He had his arms crossed over his chest – like he was really pissed.  He stared me down as I descended the front steps and walked with my client down the block.

This same thing almost happened again this past Saturday when a young couple walked into a Bloor West home as I was showing it to my clients.  It was actually another Realtor (showing the home at the same time as me) who said, “Hey – that couple is trying to get into the house as I assume there’s an open house planned for this afternoon.  I just locked the front door to make sure they don’t come in – so try and shut the door on your way out.”

I knew this agent.  He’s a broker/owner of a downtown firm, and he did exactly as he ought to have done.

I felt as if this couple was also starring me and my clients down as we walked to our cars.

Just because there is an open house scheduled on a Saturday or Sunday does not give you the right to attend at 1:30PM or 4:30PM.  If the agent is ten minutes late, it’s not your RIGHT to ask them where the hell they get off showing up after the scheduled start time.  Airplanes are late all the time, and they’re a helluva lot more important than open houses!

Don’t even get me started on the Starbucks crowd that walks over new berber carpet in their Birkenstocks while bobbing their tea-bags with little fear of spilling a beverage on somebody else’s floor.  It’s not like they have to clean in up themselves, right?