Staking out your home open

Ed Barton said:
Have you got your disguise worked out? What coffee and snacks will you have?

I assume you have a good camera with a monster telephoto lens?
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Oh come on... everybody knows you need coffee and donuts on a stake out :D.

We were very happy with our agent, but I was curious about something that she could not tell me. Were the punters going from the other house to ours, or were they coming to see ours, and wandering over to the other house. This was quite important, knowing who was looking for real, and who was just looking due to the proximity of another house for sale. Generally, I would look at the house I was interested in first, and I wanted to see how this played out.

Secondly, when we were told 20 groups went through, I wanted to make sure it was 20 "groups" and not 20 "people" - ie. five families of four. That also is important in deciding whether to take early offers, discern how much interest there is, and what sort of people we were having go through.
 
wylie said:
Oh come on... everybody knows you need coffee and donuts on a stake out :D.

We were very happy with our agent, but I was curious about something that she could not tell me. Were the punters going from the other house to ours, or were they coming to see ours, and wandering over to the other house. This was quite important, knowing who was looking for real, and who was just looking due to the proximity of another house for sale. Generally, I would look at the house I was interested in first, and I wanted to see how this played out.

Secondly, when we were told 20 groups went through, I wanted to make sure it was 20 "groups" and not 20 "people" - ie. five families of four. That also is important in deciding whether to take early offers, discern how much interest there is, and what sort of people we were having go through.
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I've got nothing against it, as I'm sure you realised I was just making a joke.

All valid reasons for what you did. If I was selling I'd be inclined to send a friend/s to the opens. You'd get a lot of what prospective purchasers were saying that the agent didn't hear.
 
I do it sometimes. You get so much more info by looking with your own eyes than relying on your agent's reporting.

Once I sold an IP that was next to another one I owned so I was able to observe every open from real close. Body language reveals a lot about people's intentions e.g. somebody who goes out and comes back for a second look, couples who take a few extra minutes on the kerb to discuss between themselves (and the expressions on their faces), kids that tell their acquiescing parents how much they love the house, someone who looks intensely at a tree and ponders whether to cut it down or not, etc... All that gives you a certain vibe and can help you make the right decision when it comes to accepting an early offer or fixing a few things before the next open.

Plus, you get an idea of the demographics like age, ethnic background etc... that could be useful.
 
When I sold my previous PPOR, the agent asked me to hang around but not let on I was the owner. The house had five external doors and he was only able to bring two assistants along so he was nervous about not having all entrances covered. At the first open there were over 150 people through the place. It was an odd feeling being there and hearing what people were saying. I just pretended I was another buyer and made the odd audible comment to myself about how solid the place was and stuff like that. I also threw in the odd observation that whoever did the renos was clearly very talented.
 
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I was 'mystery shopper' when my friends sold their house. They wanted to know if the agent is proactive and honest. The agent passed the test perfectly. Also I was trying to hear potential buyers comments to the agent and to themselves were. One couple commented that the only reason they are not interested in the property was that it only had one bathroom. They probably can not read because the ad clearly stated that the house is only one bathroom...
 
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Alex P Keaton said:
Yeah should be a fun arvo. Hmmm... I'll bring some popcorn. :D
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I actually like to mix it with the prospective buyers, I pretend I am also a buyer, amazing what you learn, I always like to throw in a positive comment here and there. I just make sure I tell the agent I am incognito :)
 
My agent left the pamphlets on our kitchen bench before we had our open home around 8 weeks ago.
I counted how may pamphlets were there - then did a recount after the open home... the amount taken pretty much corresponded with the amount of groups that actually went through.
That's about the extent of my "stalking"....
The agent did a very good job anyway and was one of the best I have ever dealt with.
 
Alex P Keaton said:
My ip that I am selling will be open on the weekend.

I plan to stake it out. I'll park up the street try to remain inconspicuous & relatively hidden. I'll be curious how many people walk through the home open.

Anyone else do this? :)
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Get a friend to attend for you and ask the agent some questions :D
 
Party # 3 arrives. Could be an investor. Maybe the same guy I saw at another home open I went to last weekend but that is a guess lol. It looks like the same walking style. He also could be a fhb ya never know. He drives a 1990's Hyundai I think it is.
 
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