Nobody hands you a rulebook when you start touring homes. So here's ours — the unwritten rules that keep you welcome, keep you out of trouble, and keep your negotiating leverage intact.
Booked 1:00–1:30? That means not a minute before 1:00, and out by 1:30. Ring the bell at 1.
Sellers plan their whole day around your window — kids out, dog out, dinner delayed. Running over isn't a small thing. You're in someone's home on their permission, and that permission has an expiry time.
Stay past it and you're not "just finishing up." Technically, it's trespassing.
Open the closets. Look under the sinks. Check the basement ceiling for stains. That's what you're there for — kick the tires.
But there's a line, and it's simple: if it holds someone's personal stuff, leave it shut.
You're evaluating the house, not auditing their life.
Doorbell cams. Nanny cams. A phone propped on the kitchen counter. Sellers watch their showings — it happens constantly.
Video is generally legal for them. Secretly recording the audio of your private conversation is another story — that's a criminal offence in Canada. But don't bank on the law. Just assume they hear everything.
Be normal. Be pleasant. And save every opinion for the car.
"We love it, we'd pay over asking" — said out loud in the living room, on camera, is exactly what the seller wants to hear. And it will cost you.
Everything you say inside that house can travel back to the seller through the agents. Gushing kills leverage. Trash-talking the kitchen? Also travels. Neutral inside. Opinions in the car.
Unless you're told otherwise, shoes come off at the door. No coffee cups wandering the house, no granola bars on the counter.
Kids stay with you — not exploring bedrooms solo. And the family dog stays home, no matter how friendly he is.
Don't knock on the neighbour's door. Don't message the seller. Don't ask the listing agent "what's the lowest they'd take" while you're standing in their hallway.
That's literally what we're here for.
We'll handle the etiquette. You handle the opinions — in the car, after.
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