Open House Etiquette in San Francisco

I’m going to start with one that may make you want to slap me on the hand:

1. Leave your dog at the door (of course, I am not including service animals here - just the pets :). Lots of folks will trade off leash duties, but if you’re solo and happen to be serious about the place you are visiting, the host can usually find a second to help you. On this note, be careful with your coffees! I’ve heard horror stories of people spilling them on the staging and then just walking away and not telling anyone about it. Staging can cost 10k+ to install - please be mindful of this. Kiddos are (hopefully obviously) totally welcome!

2. Do NOT talk to the host about your offer plans or your money situation. It’s crazy the amount of times people have spilled their offer strategy with me as the listing agent. They can and will use this information against you. Some hosts/listing agents are lazy and don’t take notes, but if they’re like me, I’m keeping a detailed ledger about who you are, who your agent is and any other notes I may think is important about you and I pass this information along to my sellers or consider it on offer day.

3. Using the bathroom at an open house is possible, but sometimes it’s really busy, so be prepared for that. There is usually a hidden roll of TP somewhere in the house, just ask!

4. This is more of an FYI because it’s what I tell my clients. If you get a disclosures.io/homelight link for disclosures, they can track how many times you’ve opened or downloaded this information. I usually get disclosures for my clients and throw them in dropbox and send a link that way. It’s probably harmless, but I don’t want to give the listing agents any idea about how serious we are before offer date.

5. Follow up: If you need more information, have your listing agent reach out. You can, too, but your agent may know some additional questions to ask that are related to your specific questions. It’s our job as buyer’s agents to have your back and know when to press deeper for information on certain things :)

Belvedere St in Cole Valley - one of my favorites!