Open houses in Midlands? (Columbia, Summit: for sale, real estate market, renting)

[ByeByeSanDiego]

Good afternoon,

I'm currently renting a house, but I'm about to graduate from grad school, and just accepted a full-time position at USC, so I have started looking around at the real estate market. However, in my almost-two years here, I have never seen a single open house (for resale homes). Not one.

In other areas of the country where I've lived, real estate open houses are listed in the Sunday paper and/or there are signs posted that I would spot while driving around.

Am I missing something? A friend who has lived here forever says she doesn't think open houses are common here because sellers don't want "strangers" in/out of their homes. If that's the case, it's unfortunate - it's how I have learned about neighborhoods in the past. I purchased my last two homes after an open house.

I suppose a realtor is the only way to go?

Thanks :-)

[waccamatt]

There are definitely open houses here. They should advertise them in the State or if you check Realtor websites.

[kingofCola]

Ya I've been to a bunch of open houses here.

[johngolf]

There are still open houses but overall that form of marketing a home has declined. The greater Columbia area has many new home developments that usually have models open 7 days a week.

[NuCola]

I would use Realtor.com. Click on the filters. Check the box with Open Houses.
I just did that now and got 17 hits.


Columbia, SC Real Estate & Homes for Sale - realtor.com®

[DemanoRock]

I see Open Home signs all over the NE. They are generally open on the weekends. Start cruising around on Fridays in the neighborhoods you are interested in to see the signs. Certainly the big neighborhoods like Lake Carolina/Summit have them frequently.