Someone who comes to see a house just out of nosiness or curiosity, not interested in purchasing the (or any) property.

Or, from another perspective...
Someone who has the above attributes, but still thinks nothing of wasting a seller's and agent's time and energy.

This is why correlating traffic at an open house with chances of receiving an offer is inherently flawed.

Looky-loos go through other people's houses for entertainment, knowing that they aren't in the market to buy & not caring that the homeowner may have to rush to get beds made & children dressed & pets put into their crates & that the Realtor will be wasting time that (s)he could have better used in researching the market or talking to a loan officer or watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island!

I also consider someone a looky- loo when they are in the market and looking, but know in advance that your house isn't what they want (ie, way too big).

That's why I only look during open houses. Especially in my neighborhood. I like to get ideas of what is going on in the current market. I don't feel like walking thru an open house is wasting anyone's time. I always let the agent know that I live in the neighborhood and am just looking.

Tangentially related looky loo story: There was a house near me that was bought about the time we bought ours. Three years later, on the market again. It was taking forever to sell, but looked nice in the photos. Finally I went to have a look see during an open house to see what the problem was. Well, that was at least a 1400 foot house and the realtor had it listed at 880! i mean, it had three decent bedrooms, family room, kitchen, living, dining, office. I dropped some heavy hints and finally told the realtor flat out, your sf on this house is low. She was like 19, I'm guessing this was her first sale, and she refused to hear it. I felt really bad for that seller, she took a bath (20,000 below what she paid) at a time our neighbourhood appreciated at least 15%. In retrospect I should have left the seller a note.

Robotropolis, that happens in our area occasionally, in cases where the extra square footage is unpermitted or otherwise does not appear on county records. Sellers and agents have disclosure requirements in our state.

Looky loo's come by for new builds too. We have been guilty in new subdivisions on our fitness walks before finishes go in, to look at the layouts and feel the space. It was helpful to us in designing our home.
We had tons of looky loo's walk through our house, and now that we are in- drive-by's. Hard to miss, since we are on a dead end and they point up at us and/or wave saying they walked through the house many times during the building process.

I don't think Looky Loos should always be discounted.

I asked my realtor to show me my second apartment when I was not pre-approved, I was not actively in the market, and was just starting to think I might want to sell. She showed it to me and I made an offer that week.

I *was* actively looking when I looked at this house at an open house. I was Not interested in this house from the outside, it just happened to be on the way to another house I was looking at, and I was curious, because I always thought these houses were ugly. I came back with my Realtor and made an offer on this one too.

I may be the exception. But when the market was hot I remember going to open houses where the Realtors obviously thought everyone was wasting their time. I went to more than one open house where the agent didn't acknowledge the presence of any of the people looking at the house, she never got off her phone or made eye contact with anybody. It didn't matter: houses were selling themselves.

I still occasionally go to open houses (or ask my Realtor if she wouldn't mind showing me a house on occasion--she doesn't mind after all this time), and I have noticed that the agents are much friendlier and open to obvious lookers, and say things like "I know you're not actively looking but tell your friends" (and I do.) They have to be friendlier now, and work harder. The houses aren't selling themselves anymore.

The house next door went on the market this weekend with an Open House. I didn't go,(chicken), but now wish I had. Lots of work beforehand, and I thought Staging. Today I pulled it up on Zillow and the photos show a totally empty house! If they have another OH I'll go thru... and be a Looky-Lu. ;-)

I am just curious Westelle... what is your motivation to spend time going into the neighbors home?

We go through streaks where we attend Open Houses in and around our neighborhood. Not as much now that we have Zillow and Trulia apps because we can get so much info online now. We always tell the Realtor that we are the "nosy neighbors" and they seem fine with it. When we've held our Open Houses we never minded playing host to Looky Loos either. We've had parents who were just looking end up sending their kids who were house hunting thinking our home might be a good starter for them. We'd never discourage Looky Loos at our Open Houses either because I think your home appears more desirable when there are lots of people coming through. Not to mention, they are often very encouraging and complementary. It's not a bad thing for other potential buyers hearing positive feedback from someone who is not the owner.

That being said, we tend to attend Open Houses where the homes are similar to ours to get a more accurate idea of the possible market value on our own home. Pictures online do not tell the whole story. We also attended our next door neighbor's Open House (we told them as well) to see the condition and how well we thought they did with their pricing. And...uh...we're nosy.

All I can say to that is that you have waaay more free time on your hands than I do.
But that is fine.

All I can say to that is that you have waaay more free time on your hands than I do.
But that is fine.

Telling someone "you have waaay more free time on your hands than I do" seems like a trite phrase designed to produce some kind of shame in the recipient. It doesn't set a tone that engenders productive discussion, especially on a message board where posters of all ages, incomes, priorities, differing job situations come to discuss our experiences of home buying and selling.

I don't consider people who go to OH Looky Loos. The realtor is there any way. They aren't taking up the owner's time or the agents. But they are Looky Loos when they make an appointment with an agent to see a house that they just want to see the inside of. They have no intention of buying it and more then likely aren't qualified to buy. Just wasting the owner's and agent's time. NancyLouise

I don't consider people who go to OH Looky Loos. The realtor is there any way. They aren't taking up the owner's time or the agents. But they are Looky Loos when they make an appointment with an agent to see a house that they just want to see the inside of. They have no intention of buying it and more then likely aren't qualified to buy. Just wasting the owner's and agent's time. NancyLouise

nancylouise,

I agree completely with the first post, not so much with the second.

Haha, good one saltidawg. Don't know how that happened??!

Like mmmbeeer, we also have attended OH in our neighborhood. I even get email listings of currently available homes. It does help us with what is going on in our neighborhood. Once I went to an OH where the agent told me he had a list of contractors who do work for him. I emailed him, and we got some masonry work done through that connection.

We are not actively looking for a new home, BUT if the right home in the right location showed up, we'd certainly seriously consider. Never say never.

I have a full-time position (according to my contract), and three part-time positions some of which extends into evenings a couple nights a week. I have time to waste on GW and work out and do chores, and read books.

Somehow I still have time to look at real estate. Perhaps I am waaaay more organized than you ncrealestateguy, or you watch waaaay more TV than me, or something.

I would like to see how that house compares to ours for the price. I am hoping to get more than what he's asking when we get ready to sell ours.... not right now tho. I am really surprised that he's chosen to show the house empty.

In the tract house neighborhood, neighbors often come through to see what's been done and to take ideas. It's interesting to see how the houses have diverged.

If I'm just touring at an open house, I immediately let the realtor know that so they don't waste time on me. And volunteer to let them practice their spiel on me if it's slow. I saw some marvelous houses in San Francisco that way.

I wouldn't ask for a private showing - that's jmust rude.

I was sort of a looky loo at one of the other town homes in the subdivision where my new town home was being built. We close on it Friday, but while it was going up, there was only one other unit in the same position, with the same yard layout. I visited it a lot while they did the landscaping, fencing, etc. to see what mine would look like. One day my husband and I even sat down on the back porch to imagine what it would be like sitting on our own porch. Suddenly he said, "There's someone inside!" No one lived there yet, so it might have been the buyer stopping by to look at something. I was totally embarrassed and got out of there before they noticed us.

Now I suspect the tables will be somewhat turned. Our yard is the only one of its kind with a paver patio, so I know the sales reps have already had people over looking at it during construction. It was probably also used as an example of the layout with third bedroom, since the model doesn't have that but it's popular option, and people always want to see what it looks like. I told them they can still stop by the yard once we close, as long as they warn the potential buyers that they might find us out in swimwear in the hot tub.

We often go to open houses in our neighborhood and tell the agents that we're neighbors. I think it's a good way to learn the market value of homes similar to ours. That seems to be knowledge worth having.

It's a little box that some people put other people in, so they can feel a brief fleeting moment of superiority in their otherwise dreary and unfulfilled lives.

OOPS I just did it myself. See how that happens.

People look at houses for all kinds of reasons and some people think that some of those reasons are not valid.

I've always thought that a 'Lookie Loo" was a person or persons that had no actual intention to buy a property that they are viewing.

This broadly encompasses all "Lookie Loos," however some are relatively harmless such as the neighbor going to a local house - may waste agent's time and possibly provide cause skewed viewing statistics... and some are potentially harmful.... theft, vandalism, etc.

I would never go to a neighbor open house, many of my friends would. I would not call them 'bad' people, and I would hope that they would identify themselves to the agent as simply neighbors.

With the advent of MLS photo services, I frequently can be a "secret" Lookie Loo and get a general sense for property value without actually going inside.

While I would not waste an agent's time by requesting viewings, occasionally, for various reasons, I will view an open house while not in the market to purchase. I'm not buying that I am wasting the agent's time. Straight away I tell them why I am there; they don't have to waste any time whatsoever with me.

By some phenomenon I don't quite understand, that seems to have the opposite effect--they want my opinion of the house, if I think it is priced correctly, my impression of this or that feature, etc.. I'm direct in manner; maybe they think they hit the mother lode of honest feedback. I don't know. Sometimes they chat about things that have nothing to do with the house. When other people show up, I've even flat out said "You should go take care of them." and been told "Nah, they're fine." after barely a glance, or maybe with only a "Hello" to the new arrivals. Not being young, attractive or particularly charming, it is perplexing. But there is no way I am going to take the blame for wasting their time.

Gyr,

If your post was directed at me, I never said that you were wasting the agent's time... I said, "may waste agent's time and possibly provide cause skewed viewing statistics..."

An example of wasting an agent's time MIGHT be in the situation where an agent ignored a potential buyer tsoas to continue to talk to you, as in: " "Nah, they're fine." after barely a glance, or maybe with only a "Hello" to the new arrivals."

YMMV (lol)

Gyr,

If your post was directed at me, I never said that you were wasting the agent's time... I said, "may waste agent's time and possibly provide cause skewed viewing statistics..."

An example of wasting an agent's time MIGHT be in the situation where an agent ignored a potential buyer so as to continue to talk to you, as in: " "Nah, they're fine." after barely a glance, or maybe with only a "Hello" to the new arrivals."

Another way for you to occupy your time, is go down to an New Car Dealer on Saturday and express interest in a new car... of course tell him that you are just looking.

YMMV (lol)

This post was edited by saltidawg on Wed, Sep 24, 14 at 15:20

An example of wasting an agent's time MIGHT be in the situation where an agent ignored a potential buyer so as to continue to talk to you, as in: " "Nah, they're fine." after barely a glance, or maybe with only a "Hello" to the new arrivals."

No, its an example of an agent wasting his own time! In my universe I have the right to ask for anything - and the person I ask has the right to say yes or no, or maybe.

kashka_kat,

Clearly you know what you know. lol

MMMMMMBeer wrote:
"Telling someone "you have waaay more free time on your hands than I do" seems like a trite phrase designed to produce some kind of shame in the recipient. It doesn't set a tone that engenders productive discussion, especially on a message board where posters of all ages, incomes, priorities, differing job situations come to discuss our experiences of home buying and selling."

MmmmmmBeer, I just now saw this reply. And you are right. After rereading it, it does come off as trite and non productive. When I posted, it was really late at night, my favorite college football team should have beat #4 in the Country but failed, and I failed to reread my post before submitting it. Shame on me. I will do better. Sometimes this internet thing makes it soooo darn easy to be a butt - head.
For what it is worth, I do not categorize people going to open houses with no interest of buying, Looky - Loos. Only ones that try to hire my services w/o seriously being in the market.

I go to neighborhood--in part to see what improvements and (in our tract) how the yard is configured. I know I will be selling in the next couple years and this gives me a good perspective of how my house stacks up and what to emphasize. I always announce that I am just a nosy neighbor. Twice, I called friends about wonderful homes for sale which they bought. I also gauge which realtors "get" the plusses of this neighborhood--only a minority mention the school district which is one of the top in the state.

When the house across the street from me was for sale and had not sold in a long time (back in 2009), I decided one week-end to go to one of the OH's. I told the realtor that I lived across the street and wanted to see how my yard looked from their windows. As it turned out, they have a much better view of my yard from the living room picture window than I do (I am uphill from them). My front yard looks like a botanical garden, as I have landscaped it with a lot of succulents, cacti, and other drought resistant plants that bloom frequently throughout the year. I was amazed at what a beautiful view I had given the neighbors, and the real estate agent told me that she really appreciated my yard and that it made her job easier because of the view I had created. I also gave her some tips on how she could improve the staging, and she came over to my house to see what I had done to my back yard.

I do agree that an empty open house is made more attractive to potential buyers if there is someone else coming in to look at the house. Some people don't like going into empty houses.

I don't mind being a looky loo if it's during an open house. This house will be for sale in the next year or so, and seeing the competition is helpful. I would never waste the sellers time in a private showing, but there are plenty of people who have no sense of decency, and have wasted my time with other homes in the past. Realtors sometimes don't bother to qualify to see if the person can even afford the house.

Ncrealestateguy: That was a really thoughtful reply. Thanks. I understand completely. My intention was just to try to address the words and not attack you and I appreciate your effort to understand that. Honestly, you're one of my favorite posters--I think your advice, overall, is very practical and helpful.

When we put our house on the market, I went to every open house that I considered a comp in the neighborhood. When we finally got an offer, it was $30,000 UNDER our asking price, and the buyer gave an explanation for the low offer, "that these comps sold for x less than what you are asking." BUT, I don't think she counted on the fact that I had been in those comps, and I told my realtor to tell her that and that House #1 had flooded during hurricane Sandy and was on the corner of a busy street (ours has a dry, carpeted basement and is the last house in a cul-de-sac). The buyer came back with an offer $20,000 higher.

I don't know for sure, of course, but I think it was hard to argue with my rationale, since I had seen those houses in person and she hadn't. So, I'm glad I was a looky loo and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of selling their house.

"When we put our house on the market, I went to every open house that I considered a comp in the neighborhood."

I do that, too. Just in case we ever get get a low-ball offer when selling that compares our house to another in the neighborhood that may match ours in terms of square footage but not in terms of materials used and upgrades.

Everytime I have work done on my house, I have those who want to come in and see it! LOL Recently, I've been sort of house hunting. I had a relator show me four houses but then I started having doubts about moving... so I felt guilty! I've told her my specs and just email me. She's not done that yet. It's been a week. I suspect she thinks I'm a looky loo who doesn't intend on buying. I'm just particular and uncertain. I now look for my OWN possibles. Then, I drive to the neighborhood. If I think that's a fantastic place to be and I see in the MLS the house is vacant, I look around the yard and in the windows first before I call an agent. So far just called ONE agent who was busy; then decided forget it, it wasn't the location I want to be. I don't know if I'm a looky loo or not but every "Parade of Homes" or "Homearama", I go. Trying to find that dream house for the dream price on that dream lot. So far NADA. There's nothing wrong about doing that unless you are up to something nefarious or wasting someone's time!