Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Open House - Tips?
Our first open house is tomorrow! Any tips?
I'm also kind of annoyed because we had a no show showing today after I got the house all ready, and got the dog and baby out of the house (they called to say they weren't coming after the were already late). Is this common?
I'm also nervous about the idea of an open house - I feel like people might come just to stake out the place to either steal stuff then or later. I know to hide jewelry etc. but what about computers, electronics, nice purses, etc. We live in a condo so can't stash everything!
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Re: Open House - Tips?
Good luck on your open house! It was weird at first having people through our home, but you get used to it. In terms of security of your things, I would put away laptops or anything valuable that concerns you.
During one open house we held, we had one couple come through and split up. My realtor was with the woman downstairs when the man went into our bedroom. The realtor got suspicious that the man was taking awhile upstairs and when she got halfway up the stairs to check on him, he was going through our medicine cabinet. We didnt have any medications but our realtor suspected that they were there to steal medications since they didnt seem interested whatsoever and got really weird after she "caught" him going through our things.
Don't worry too much about the no-shows. It is really annoying but it will happen from time to time.
My best tips are: clean and declutter! It sounds like you are well beyond that but I can't stress it enough.
Putting away your small valuables is always wise. I'm a Realtor in Nor Cal and thankfully, in 16 years, I have never had anything stolen. But you want to remove temptation and just be cautious.
Overall, my best advice for opens is clean, declutter, put away valuables & personal information, take down extra family photos and momentos (doesn't have to be all, IMO), take out some furniture (if possible) and re-evaluate the arrangement. Clean windows and the entry (the first spot they see when they visit). Regarding odor and scents: I suggest a good airing out rather than air fresheners etc. Nothing smells better in a house than just 'fresh'. Then, leave
Leave 15 mins early and come back 15 mins late (I always have early birds and last minute visitors).The buyers will feel 100x more comfortable if the seller is not in the house. Let your Realtor work the open and provide the feedback, take advantage of their services 
Hope this helps....I think you've inspired me to write a post of OH tips, just to share
Good luck today! Not sure where you are but here is is blue skies, I hope you have good weather and lots of visitors!
Lighthouse State Beach, Santa Cruz.