I'm Purchasing a House Soon, but I'm Steering Clear of Open Houses. Here's Why

I'm currently in the market for a new house after accepting an offer on our current home. I want to see several different properties before I move forward with getting a mortgage and putting in an offer of my own. And I don't want to just buy a house -- I want to buy the right house where I can hopefully stay put for a while.

Although I want to visit a number of different properties before I move forward with buying one, I am steering clear of attending open houses. There are a few key reasons why.

Open houses can be crowded

One of the biggest reasons why I don't want to go to open houses is because they can be really crowded. This is especially true in the area where I'm looking for homes, which is a popular neighborhood that is something of a tourist attraction in the area. Many people tend to visit open houses there, even if they aren't really interested in buying, just because they want to see what the homes look like.

The last thing I want to do when I'm considering buying a house is navigate around a big crowd of people in order to try to see the features of the home or make an assessment about whether it will work for our family. The big crowds can be a distraction and cause me to miss important things that would help me decide if the home is a good fit.

It's harder to get questions answered at an open house

At many open houses, the real estate agent who is running things tends to be busy talking to the many visitors in the home. In fact, I've seen real estate agents trying to solicit business at open houses I've attended, and it has sometimes seemed as if they are more focused on what the open house can do for them in helping them find clients rather than focusing on selling the home in question.

When I visit a property, I want to be able to get one-on-one attention from the listing agent so if I have questions as I move through the rooms, I can get them answered. There's a lot to think about when looking at a property, and if I have several questions, I may forget some of them while waiting in a crowded line for my turn.

I'd rather set up a private showing to avoid the feeling of competition and take my time to see the home

The bottom line is, open houses can make me feel stressed if I see a lot of people at the house because I'll worry I have a lot of competition. There's no reason to experience this undue stress when the open house is the least optimum way to explore a property.

That's why I steer clear of going to them and instead I work with my real estate agent to set up private showings of any home I may be interested in buying.