Sunday is open house day and if you’re like most people, you will probably try to squeeze in four or five open houses (and only actually make it to three if you’re new to house shopping). By the time you’ve driven around between them, they often become blurred together and mixed up in your mind. Disagreements might ensue.
Privacy legislation does not allow for picture taking, although I know open house visitors with their cell phone cameras clandestinely might yield to the temptation. What you need is a cheat sheet so you can keep track of which one had the red shag carpet and which the flagstone patio. Here are some ideas of what your cheat sheet might include
Open house cheat sheet
The house:
Address __________________
Square Footage_____________
Price____________________
Taxes___________________
Bedrooms________________
Bathrooms________________
Closet space_______________
Kitchen__________________
Garage___________________
Parking__________________
Basement_________________
Yard_____________________
Roof_____________________
Windows__________________
Furnace___________________
Appliances_________________
Layout____________________
Colors____________________
_________________________
The Neighborhood:
Traffic____________________
Noise_____________________
Neighbors_________________
Parks____________________
Schools___________________
Public transit_______________
Shopping__________________
_________________________
Depending on your criteria, some of these things are unimportant to you but there will be other things you’ll need on your cheat sheet. This one is just the basics to get you started. Happy shopping.
The house you’re going to buy probably isn’t on the market yet.
