There is a law in Texas forbidding signs. Recently, the city has been pushing for it enforcement, and one man has been collecting every single sign that he can. It has frustrated homeowners, since many signs are for missing pets. Yes it is nice that some signs are not there, but since there are signs that I want to see, the law proves unhelpful. I really do not see the issue effecting home values though.

Our MLS has a rule that you can't put OPEN HOUSE this Sunday in the public remarks section.  If the mls itself prohibits spreading the word about there being an Open House, seems hard to blame others for following suit.

I'm confused as to why you buy homes.  Is it for shelter or is it just for value! 

I really believe we have this thing twisted and that is why so many people are strapped in properties they will eventually loose. 

I thought a home was for shelter and as a consequence of paying down the mortgage and appreciation in the market after having held a property there would be equity that a HOMEOWNER could make a choice of how the property would be used or handled based on their family and personal situation.

I really get confused as to if Americans really understand homeownership from some of the decisions I see and hear being made.  It seem like a home is a piggy-bank in stead of the place you take shelter. 

We had a community that had a rule for no signs. A creative agent placed the sign in the car in front of the house. HOA rep came out, took pictures and threatened court action.

That being said, the elimination of signs does not decrease values, it just changes the way people find the home. A popular neighborhood will not suddenly loose it's cache if signs are eliminated. However, more local neighborhoods may follow this position.

We have ordinances like this in my area, and it does not decrease home values.  It decreases open house traffic.

I don't get it.  Why do HOA's do this?  Do they want Sold houses in their neighborhods or are they happy with houses for sale in their neighborhoods? 

I can see how in hoa you want to live in a protected environment form all the signs and crap that can occur.  But come on people.  Having a sign up for a few hours isn't going to hurt anything.  I also agree less lookers means lower offer which transpires into lower sell price.  That is the law of supply and demand.

Hmmm, I'm torn on this one....I hate it when you drive by a subdivision and see 20 signs at the entrance...many of them from the same company....saying, "home for sale" ->.  Yet, I also can't stand these idiots who have nothing better to do than to pretend that they are some kind of "sign" cop!

Last I heard...might be different....but this is still a free country.  If I want to put a sign on my property, who the hell are you to tell me not to?

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 

I work in a market that doesn't have for sale signs except for townhouses. Most of our inventory is apartments so there is no place to put them. Our property values are the highest in the nation. On any given day only buyers sellers and real estate agents know what is for sale. Everyone else goes about their normal business.

When I visit my family in the suburbs every other house has a for sale sign. Psychologically I think for sale signs hurt the value when they are all over the neighborhood. There might be just as many homes for sale in my market but it is not in everybody's face.

I dont see the connection between open house signs and values other than a negative impact on values. Open house signs on every corner over the weekend...or at any time, makes some areas look as if there are many more homes on the market than there are. More homes.....less value. No one...especially in this market, wants to buy in an area with, what appears to be, a sea of homes for sale. Many buyers simply see a sign....maybe 10 of them and not necessarily make the connection that there is only 1 home for sale.

Open house signs, and open houses as a general rule in my book, accomplish 1 main goal. To attract buyers for homes. And, not typically the one the open house is held for.

Not having open house signs does not decrease the value of a home.  It only changes the way potential buyers find homes.  Since 86% of home buyers find a home online, I don't think open house signs have anything to do with price, only open house traffic.  I work in neighborhoods that limit open house signs to one on the property only.  I still get open house traffic.

John, I confused Open House signs with For sale signs. Soory. As Tracey says it only changes the way they find homes. I have very successful Open Houses with out any signs. I post the Open House on the internet, the MLS and newspaper ad. 

We have many development in SW Florida that do not allow the realtors to place "Open House" signs which I believe is rediculous. How are these people to draw traffic to their home when they are trying to sell it. It amazes me the mindset of the residents who agree to these "rules'.

Sean Allen

I don't think the lack of open house signs diminish the value of a home.  In other blog streams most realtors have agreed that the value of an open house is primarily a benefit to the agent who will increase his/her contact database.  Very few homes are actually sold as a result of an open house... that said, the first contract I ever wrote was on a home that I was holding open.

I wouldn't say it decreases your homes value, but it may make it stay on the market for a longer period of time, and time=money.

I don't see it as decreasing values, but I do see it as a pain for agents and sellers. It could also pit neighbor against neighbor.

They should just have rules on signage. Open house signs are allowed one to 2 days a week for only however many hours. I think it is funny that they same people that make the no sign law, plaster our cities for months with signs everywhere. Sounds like a double standard?

Congratulations on a worthwhile and though provoking post!

Best Regards,

Wayne Gomillion

www.PinehurstHomeTeam.com

I don't beleive having or not having open house signs effect the value of the home.  But allowing off site open house signs, directing home buyers to the house increases the possiblity of selling that home or another one in the neighborhood. 

We are currently working with our  city to have some type of sign ordinance for off site directional open house signs.  We have not gotten very far at this time but hope to have something in place by the end of this year.

I am always amazed at what sets people off John. Directing someones energy towards something as trivial as temporary signs seems misguided.

In the Dallas area, we can't put signs in the medians (and the city of Plano doesn't allow signs at all).  However, the local leather and furniture stores routinely hire people to stand in the medians wearing sandwich boards announcing their going out of business sales. I'd rather see small signs stuck into the ground without protruding legs. 

I don't think open house signs, or the lack of open house signs has any relationship to the values in a community.

I think its stupid to ban temporary signs, anywhere. I work open houses for other agents in my office, in town & out in the "boondocks". Places like Rehoboth Beach limit us to 1 sign on the property only & when its a house off the beaten path aka the main road headed to the beach most people do not see it.

I see a marked decrease in when I only have 1 sign out but then again I also have issues getting people to come to houses out in the boonies too as most buyers around here want to be near the beach, or near a major town. But thats a whole other issue, heh.

And yes, we do have issues with whats been coined "bandit" signs around here, the lousy developers throw signs up for their developments on friday, sometimes thursday, without a care if its on private property, right of way prop, or city/county/state prop. The signs are cheaply made & if we get any weather they trash quickly so it leaves a nasty mess. Instead of removing the signs sunday or monday they just leave them up causing our highway people to go out & pick them up, wasting tax payers money, my money ya know?

The various areas (city/county/state) have tried putting fines on the people but since the signs are cheap most dont pay to pick them up, they just throw out new ones the next wkend. Its a never ending fight & our areas wont make them pay the fines. Sigh, anyway, enough of my rant.

Yes, its a lousy idea to ban temporary signs that will only be out a couple hours, if you feel they will tak advantage of it then have them pay a fine to get their signs back but that doesnt always work either.

Definitely could pit neighbor against neighbor

www.gregorygarver.com

Hi John, same problem up here in Portland with many small municipalities within the metro area banning or restricting these signs. Hard to serve the needs of the homeowners in a neighborhood when nobody knows about the open.  Seems the neighbors need to band together to tell their officials that when they want to sell their homes, that this is a necessity. I always wonder about those officials who make these bans and then try to sell their own homes! Keith

The signs are only there for no more then a 3 hr period. One would think that with the signs we may get the buyers to "buy the house". Isn't that the goal?

We have several cities that restrict sign usage to Saturday and Sunday only. It does lower the amount of sign calls that we receive. I think that the sign restrictions impact the "For sale by owner" homes more than those listed with a real estate company.

I find it interesting that the cities that have sign restrictions, allow Political signs to be posted for months. The real estate signs that are a benefit their constituents can only be left up for a couple of days.

I have very strong opinions about 1) gated communities that require a code for entrance and 2) open houses.

No good accrues to anyone in the subdivision by disallowing free traffic and reasonable directional signage to homes that are for sale.  As a compromise, these communities should allow open houses and free access, say, every Sunday between 2 and 4.

There's no way to prove it up, I guess, but logic would say that the restriction not only depresses sales but also depresses value.

Hi John,

I think one of the problems is that so many of us have seen abuse of open house signs, abuse far beyond what most municipalities actually allow. In the long-run I think they're helpful, but just don't over due it.

Now a question you said, " don't even allow for sale signs (e.g., Rancho Santa Fe" are you saying they allow absolutely NO for sale signs at all? If so, I'm not so sure it's legal in CA. It was at one time (in some cities) in the dark ages when I began r.e., then CA Governor Jerry (moon-beam) Brown changed that in the very early 70's.   

Just curious, I'll stay tuned on this one.

Hey everyone,  This is great feedback, and I'll forward it on.  Here are a couple of comments relating to these issues.  The political leaders in a lot of communities are hesitant to enforce the sign laws here in California against political signs for a number of reasons: 1) 1st Amendment concerns; 2) re-election concerns (how are they going to get reelected as an incumbent).  In this particular circumstance, this community board guy plans to enforce the rules AGAINST all the political signs as well.  (Again, I applaud him for equal treatment, but I'm not sure about the judgment thing as I think he's going to have a hard time getting the support of code enforcement on that one.)

Yes, I understood that CA law did not allow for prohibition of for sale signs, either.  But I'm pretty sure you don't see them in Rancho Santa Fe.  I don't know the answer on that one...I'll have to get some input from one of the RSF agents on that.

Some of the communities (e.g., Carlsbad) are very strict on the signage laws during the week.  They don't patrol the weekends, so the real estate agents don't have problems except on broker caravan days and even then the agents can pull the list of homes on caravan so extensive signage isn't so important.  I think that's a very sensible approach to eliminating the bandit signs while preserving home owners' (including FSBOs and through their agents) ability to sell their homes.  How is a FSBO guy whose home isn't even in the MLS supposed to sell his house?

Again, we'll follow whatever rules applies to everyone.  But, I think as many of the comments point out, this may simply trade off one benefit for another cost.  But that's what homeowner groups are supposed to do.  I'll try to remember to post so everyone finds out how it turned out.

John and Margaret Hokkanen

While I can see abuse, placing signs for an open house, and then taking them back down should NOT get every one's collective panties in a wad.  Truthfully, though, I get annoyed seeing a gazillion signs all over the place. 

But, the next thing... open houses don't really sell houses.  At least not here.  Kind of hard to be impulsive when buying a house... 

Signs up for 15 minutes before the open house starts, and taken down promptly shouldn't be a problem.  I guess some of those neighbors would rather have empty houses all around.  That will really help their values.

No matter what the event, the individuals, the location or the color of the bathroom walls, there will always be someone who will complain.  They were taught by their parents that "live and let live" does not apply to them because they really know what's best for the rest of the world. 

One of the causes of homes sitting on the market for longer than necessary is lack of accessibility. 

We can only hope that when this Misanthrope tries to sell his house he needs to do so quickly that no one can find it. 

Not permitting Open House signs ranks right up there with no lock box for barriers to sale. 

I don't think it would necessarily alter values--just makes your job harder.

Hey John,  We now have a 'bandit sign law' that fines us $1000 per sign in the public right of way.  What a pain in the petunia.  I can understand them wanting to stop the littering of builders and spam equivalent signs...but Open House signs?  That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.

There should be a time limit...like, "for no more than 4 or 5 hours."

I don't know about reducing property value, but it sure is a restriction of trade and even more so a hit against sellers, well, consumers in general.

There are some areas in Westchester that ban signs -including open house signs.  I suppose it limits response to only "serious" buyers - so a million people don't tramp through the home, but is that a good thing?  Probably not.. As for impulse buying - I have never seen anyone  buy a house on impulse. Not likely unless of course you run into a bipolar higher than a kite and off their meds!

We have communities which ban "for sale" signs all together.  One benefit is there are virtually no FSBO's in this community....they must use a Realtor.

John,

Have you thought about communicating with your town's code enforcement office?  We (our association of Realtors) approached our code enforement office and worked out a plan for open house signs on weekends and on our "caravan" mornings.  Once they understood our needs on behalf of our clients and we understood their need to enforce city ordinances, we worked together instead of against each other.  There are still some offices that abuse the placement of off-property signs but, by and large, the "open house plan" works pretty well.  As in a real estate transaction, communication is the key to resolving conflicting needs.

While I do think it is odd that temporary signs aren't allowed, I feel it has no impact whatsoever on a home sale.  NAR stats show that open houses are not effective at eliciting a buyer for the sale of that home. If you look at how buyer's first found out about the home they bought, it was not from an open house. People just don't buy homes that way anymore.

I think in this market having all of the signs up can actually backfire.  We don't have that issue here in Salem where our market is still decent, but when 15 homes are for sale on one street...sorry, no seller is going to get a good price for their home. 

It's odd, but I don't think it impacts value at all.

They are called CAVE's Citizens Against Virtually Everything... It's Like Get A Life

OK just yesterday after dabbling in real estate for four years I had my first impulse buyer.  He was already approved by a lender and we have a signed, sealed, delivered contract by the end of the day.  About two days ago I would have disagreed with this notion but no longer :)

I do agree with you that communities which disallow for sale signs and signs all together lose out ~BUT~ most of the communities that have those here have the highest protected values right now in this down market because those communities are highly desired.  They are mostly guard gated golf communities.  It is frustrating!  Some agents even maliciously put homes that are NOT in those communities as listed in those communities so you cannot even put a search in the MLS with those communities.  You have to know the boundaries and draw a polygon around them to find them in an MLS search!!!

That was a tangent!!  Sorry!!

There are a few new communities here that do not allow signs (for sale, open house, etc). Some homeowners find it a little frustrating. I think it depends on the overall neighborhood. I agree though with some others, it should only make it harder to find. It shouldn't affect the value. 

Well, I think one of the most interesting things I've learned in all of this is that if you ban signs, you force people to use real estatate agents!!  Since the homeowners cannot use signs, they have to list in the MLS, and this pushes people in the direction of real estate agents.  THAT'S AN AMAZING EXTERNALITY that I had not considered.

John

I don't think it really matters, I have seen it both ways. what bothers me is when you drive through a town and there is multiple signs up on a single street corner and it looks like trash.

Yes, people do abuse it. I often see up to five signs on one corner pointing the same direction to open houses. When I hold open houses, if there is already a sign there I don't bother. How many times can a person turn left (or right)? As long as the signs have them heading my way, I save my signs for the corners that have none.

People do live there, and they don't care to have the neighborhood littered with signs every weekend. It looks cheap, and it looks like everyone is trying to bale out of the area. That likely does hurt property values. People always abuse a good thing until "there oughta be a law" mentality kicks in and ends it altogether.

Great Info & nice bog!

As long as you put your signs up a couple hours before the open & an hour after you will be fine.

Good Selling,

Sincerely,

www.homesonlinemn.com

I have had listings where they do not allow signs . It makes it difficult as we can put an open house sign just before the open. I am sure it affects the sales.