Should You Be Home During Your Own Open House? A 27-Year Answer

Every seller asks me this. The open house is Saturday, do I stay or do I go? After 27 years and hundreds of these, my answer is almost always the same. Go. Here is why, and here is the short list of exceptions.

Buyers cannot picture themselves in your home while you are standing in it

An open house has one job. It helps a buyer imagine their life in the space. That imagination shuts off the second the current owner is in the room. People stop opening closets. They stop lingering in the primary suite. They whisper to each other in the hallway and leave early. You want them slowing down, touching things, staying. They will not do that with you there.

People will not say what they really think

The most valuable thing an open house gives you is honest reaction. Buyers and their agents will say things at an open house they would never say to your face. “The kitchen feels dated.” “Smaller than the photos.” That feedback is gold, and you only get it when the owner is gone.

It is safer, and it is smoother

You do not want to personally manage a stream of strangers walking through your home and your belongings. That is the agent’s job, and it should be handled with a sign-in process and eyes on the flow. Let the professional run the room.

The exceptions, and they are few

• A truly unique property where the owner holds specific history a buyer would value. Even then, a brief hello and then out is better than hovering.
• Pets or medical needs that require you to stay close. In that case, be somewhere out of the way, ideally off-site entirely with a neighbor or in the car nearby.

What to do instead

Leave the home better than a hotel room. Lights on, blinds open, temperature comfortable, counters clear, nothing on the floors. Take the pets. Then go get a coffee and let the work happen. When I run your open house, I am capturing every reaction and every scan of the sign out front, and I bring it all back to you.

I’m Connor MacIvor, Connor with Honor, Santa Clarita’s seller’s only agent. Call or text me any time at 661-888-4983.