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What would you do?

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Ann

Ideal_Rock
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This morning I found a note in an envelope taped to my front door. This woman introduced herself and went on the tell us where she lived, how long and that she and her husband were designing their dream home. She said she loved our home and would like to build something like it. She asked if they tour the interior!!! We don''t know these people from Adam. This has happened in the past. We do have a beautiful home and passerbys slow and look. We have even had people taking pictures. I assumed they too were building something like ours or maybe they just liked the brick color. One morning there was a man measuring the width of our front walk!
What would ya''ll do? The address she listed is just 1 street over and a very nice one at that. Hubby is out of town and we will discuss it Monday. Would it be rude to ignore it or should we call and just invite these folks on over!?!
 
This woman''s intentions may be honorable, but my red flag gut system said, "Don''t do it." Maybe I''m overly suspect, but I''m wondering if in addition to making good on her note, if she wants to check out your personal belongings, scoping your property, etc....

Like I said, I''m being overly cautious...maybe I''ve become jaded within my profession?!
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I would also have to say no. If you even knew *of her...maybe I''d say ok...actually, a couple visiting their son in our coop buildng asked to see ours and we said yes, but b/c it''s nothing special LOL and b/c their kids are in the building...

Why does this woman want to see the inside...she says she loves it ... so tell her to feel free to take pix of the outside and show her architect...don''t suppose you have any blue prints? I''d show those to her....I''d write a note back and say you''re flattered but you''re no comfie...
 
Yes all my red flags are up. Get the ladies phone number and call her back when your husband is back home. These days ya just never know. Better to be safe than sorry. It's a terrible way to be, but I'd rather error on the side of caution than not.
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I agree with everyone else- unless you have another neighbor to vouch for her integrity, I would call her back once your husband has returned, explain that you value your privacy but if she has any specific questions related to the construction (ie square footage or center hall layout) you would be happy to answer them. If you know the designer of your house, offer the firm''s name. Liking the exterior of a house should have nothing to do with planning the interior layout of your dream home!

as an aside.. be prepared that if you ever put your home on the market and there is an open house, this couple will be the first in line! two houses away from my apartment is a home recently listed and they had an open house hoping for a quick sale. Although I love the house and was very curious to find out if the inside was as appealing as the exterior I didn''t go to the open house out of respect (I would never be able to buy in this market!) but later saw the owner and asked how it all went- he said that if it weren''t for all the curious locals no one would''ve attended! no serious buyers, all looky-loos out for a sunday stroll....
 
My red flags are up too. My husband designed the home and we spent months working out details. Though I am flattered, I don''t want to see my home built somewhere else. I really think this woman has a lot of gall to ask to see the inside. We did have someone once ask us if we would sell them our plans. No Way.
 
Date: 5/12/2005 10:56:55 PM
Author: fountainfairfax
I agree with everyone else- unless you have another neighbor to vouch for her integrity, I would call her back once your husband has returned, explain that you value your privacy but if she has any specific questions related to the construction (ie square footage or center hall layout) you would be happy to answer them. If you know the designer of your house, offer the firm''s name. Liking the exterior of a house should have nothing to do with planning the interior layout of your dream home!

as an aside.. be prepared that if you ever put your home on the market and there is an open house, this couple will be the first in line! two houses away from my apartment is a home recently listed and they had an open house hoping for a quick sale. Although I love the house and was very curious to find out if the inside was as appealing as the exterior I didn''t go to the open house out of respect (I would never be able to buy in this market!) but later saw the owner and asked how it all went- he said that if it weren''t for all the curious locals no one would''ve attended! no serious buyers, all looky-loos out for a sunday stroll....
YIKES!
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I''m one of theose looky-loos! I go to open houses ALL the time. Granted, not if the house is owned by people that I actually know or anything. Most of the houses I go to are either model homes or spec homes that no one has lived in yet. But on occasion, I have stopped at a really interesting looking house that is on open house but still occupied by the owners. I have a couple of friends that are realtors, and they have told me that they would rather have looky-loos dropping by than to have few or worse, NO interested people coming by to view the home. For one thing, it can get boring for the realtors to sit there for 3-4 hours if no one shows up to look. The other reason is because most of the time they have a guest book for you to sign, and the sellers can get really upset and disappointed if they find out that nobody showed up at their open house.

The realtors expect that the biggest majority of people that are going to show up at these things are just nosey people, or people with nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon (like me
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). But they usually tell the seller this right up front, and hopefully, if enough people walk through the house, they might actually find a few who are interested enough to consider buying the house.

Now, on the REAL issue...if someone were to just come up to my door, or leave a note that they wanted to tour my home, I''d be leery. I would probably politely tell them that I''m not comfortable allowing strangers into my home, but thanks for the compliment. I''m lucky, the builder who built my house lives right next door to me, and I can easily send them over to knock on HIS door instead of mine! I have actually had a few people pull up at our house when I was out in the front yard and ask who built our house and tell me that they would love to come inside and see the rest...lol. I was able to just send them next door to talk to the guy who built mine.
 
I am a huge fan of Oprah and she always says to listen to your instincts. If you feel it''s a red flag it usually is. Maybe this gal is just fine, but has huge guts to walk up and ask to see the inside of your house. But for me I would be like Hell No!!!!! There have been robberies around here that start off just like that. Listen to your women''s intuition. No apologies needed in this day and age.
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Hmm get a gate with a code. My parents are private people too. We live where you cannot find the streats without knowing they are there and our property is gated and whatnot. We do have people stand on the other side of the fencing and take pictures but they usally keep to themselves. Before the gate was up we would come home and find people walking around both the upper and lower porches and trying to look through the french doors. People can be quite rude. Personally the idea of a tour doesnt make sense to me, how can they know if they want your layout? They havent seen the house? I would save the note and decline the request or perhaps just ignore it.
 
Does your town have rules about simillar homes being built...perhaps you could disaude them this way. My mother is an architech and it took almost three years for the plans to be ready. She would pitch a fit if someone else built our house. Homes are such deeply personal things....not for strangers to just invite themselves into. This just doesnt sound right to me.
 
I can understand (perhaps) where this woman may be coming from. There is one house in particular that I''ve driven by for YEARS when traveling from my hometown to our nearest city. From the outside it has beautiful angles and an awesome mix of siding and stone. The garage is disguised as a part of the home due to it''s orientation and matching windows. Just based on the exterior, I''ve fallen in love. Everyone who has ever made the journey to the city and back with me knows that I *LOVE* the looks of this particular house.

Here''s where I differ though; while I would LOVE to know what sort of interior layout they''ve used, I''d never go so far as to contact them about it. In my mind, that is their own personal and private space and I wouldn''t even think to invade it. If I know that I like the exterior, I can easily work with a custom builder to incorporate some of my favorite design elements from memory and set up the interior exactly as *I* want it. There''s no reason for me to know how their square footage has been allocated (not that I''d turn down a floorplan if I happened to drive by one day and they were handing them out hehe *wink wink*).

You should be flattered that she thinks so highly of your home but I''d have to agree that she really shouldn''t invite herself in for a look around. If you feel comfortable giving her some general information such as: our home is about 2005 sq feet, or my favorite aspect is having a kitchen that faces the back of our lot; I''m sure she''d be appreciative of whatever you feel ok sharing with her.

Congrats on doing such a great job creating your house, that you''ve even cultivated some fans! ;)
 
When I first read your post, my first instinct was no, don''t let this woman in. While she may be innocent, you just never know these days.
 
I know we all like to pretend like we live next to the Cleaver''s but in reality this world is full of crazies.

Okay- it doesn''t help that my dad is a retired Houston police officer and I am suspect of everyone down to little old blue haired women. BUT the fact that this woman taped a note to your door and wants to see the inside of your house just creeps me out. Maybe it is the fact that I am in that field, but I also wouldn''t want someone one street over with a home identical to mine anyway- especially if everyone is so taken with it. It must be BEAUTIFUL! I would politely tell her that you simply do not feel comfortable, that she is welcome to photograph the exterior and you hope she understands. She should take some pictures of the exterior, hire an architect and an interior designer and have a place of her own.

I must say that it also creeps me out that someone was measuring your walk way. C''mon, hasn''t anyone heard of privacy, personal space, PRIDE? Who DOES that?
 
What kind of town do you live in? My red flags went up like crazy. However, I am used to looky loos too. My immediate thought is that they want to tour your house to look for things to rob later. I''m tempted to just give them the name of your interior decorator if you had one.

Otherwise, I''d be willing to search that person if you give me their name and address and I might be able to get you a good idea of how long they''ve lived at that home. If it''s been a reasonable number of years, it lends credence to the story that they''re remodeling and want ideas from your home (still don''t see why they need to see the inside yours unless they''re weird and want an exact copy of your house).
 
I''d say no. If your house is that unique and nice, it could be an excuse to "case" it. It''s just risky. Tell her she can take exterior pictures and if she wants more, maybe show her rough floor plans, but it''s your home and if it''s not for sale, no one needs to see it that you havent'' invited in. If she''s working with an architect he should be able to get her into homes he''s designed to show her some of his work.
 
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