Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
Buyer / Seller · Open Houses
Open houses serve different purposes for buyers vs. sellers. Buyers should use them strategically as low-pressure tour opportunities. Sellers should use them as a marketing tool — but not over-rely on them. Here's the framework.
5.0 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesQuick Answer
How should you approach open houses in Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities?
Buyers can use open houses as no-appointment previews, but the host represents the seller, so keep your budget and motivation to yourself. Sellers should treat an open house as one exposure tool, usually early in the listing, alongside MLS® reach and private showings. The same BC rules apply in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra.
Verified · Buyer / Seller · Open Houses
For buyers — Pros
Tour without an appointment. See the property in real conditions (other people in the home). Compare neighbourhood inventory in one afternoon. Low-pressure interaction with the listing agent.
For buyers — Cons
Listing agent works for the seller, not you. Information given may be selective. You may face other buyers also looking at the property.
Buyer tip 1
Bring a checklist. Compare each home on the same criteria — windows, condition, lot, etc. Memory fades fast after 5+ tours.
Buyer tip 2
Don't overshare your enthusiasm. Listing agent will report your interest level back to seller. Stay neutral until you've made your decision.
Buyer tip 3
Ask questions the host can answer: how long it has been listed, what's included, and whether strata documents or an inspection report are available. Offer terms can't be shared without the seller's consent, and the seller's reasons for selling are confidential.
Buyer tip 4
If you're already represented, say so when you sign in and keep your budget and motivation to yourself. Tell the agent: 'I'm working with [Craig Johnston / your REALTOR®].' Avoid being pulled into a representation conversation.
For sellers — Pros
Generates broader awareness. Some serious buyers prefer to discover via open house. Some neighbours attend (potential listing leads for the agent, but also genuine interest).
For sellers — Cons
Open houses by themselves rarely sell homes. There's no published data on how many Tri-Cities sales start at an open house, so I treat it as one part of a plan alongside MLS® exposure and private showings. Open house attendance is often just-curious traffic.
Seller strategy
Use open house in first 7-14 days of listing while interest is highest. If a listing has had weeks of exposure without offers, another open house rarely fixes the cause — that's usually a price or presentation conversation.
Go deeper
Do you always need an open house? — the three jobs an open house actually does, why the first weekend is the one that counts, when a second weekend is worth it, why day thirty is a different conversation, and what BC rules require on sign-in sheets, disclosure forms and tenanted homes.
Free download
Selling a Tenanted Home in B.C.
Planning an open house in a tenanted home? It’s a printable two-sided guide. One side is for you as the seller-landlord. The other is written for your tenant and covers notice, showings and the two ways a sale can end.
Download the guide (PDF, 2 MB)Want the detail? Read selling a tenanted property in BC.
| City | Detached | Townhouse | Apartment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coquitlam | 50 | 31 | 39 |
| Port Coquitlam | 48 | 23 | 61 |
| Port Moody | 44 | 46 | 45 |
| Greater Vancouver | 51 | 44 | 47 |
Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS® REALTOR® Report, September 2026 data, released October 2, 2026. Days on market for homes that sold that month; it shows how long a typical buyer pool stays fresh, which is why open-house timing matters.
The rules on representation, offers and tenants are provincial, so they're the same everywhere from Coquitlam to Belcarra. What changes is the buyer pool, the pace of the market and a few local details.
The largest market of the three cities, with 470 detached, 196 townhouse and 600 apartment listings active in September 2026. With that much choice, buyers compare closely, so presentation on the first weekend carries weight.
Lower benchmarks than Coquitlam in every home type (detached $1,240,600), which draws buyers stretching a budget. Directional open-house signs follow the city's Sign Bylaw: side boulevards only, dawn to dusk. Transit is bus and the weekday West Coast Express rather than SkyTrain.
A smaller pool of listings (148 detached, 42 townhouse in September 2026), so fewer homes compete for the same weekend buyers. Moody Centre is on both the Millennium Line and the West Coast Express, which makes nearby condo open houses easy to reach without a car.
Detached-only and thinly traded — 1 sale against 34 active listings in September 2026. With so few buyers in the market at once, I plan open houses around targeted promotion rather than drive-by traffic.
The data set I work from has no Belcarra benchmark, and listings are infrequent, so every open-house decision there is made home by home from individual comparable sales.
No pressure. No obligation. Just a 20-minute call to talk through your specific situation.
Open houses spark strong opinions. Used well, they're a useful tool in a wider marketing plan; leaned on alone, they disappoint. Here's how to think about them.
The purpose
An open house widens exposure to casual and first-time buyers who might not book a private showing, and it gives you live feedback on how the home shows and where it's priced.
Preparation
The same rules as any showing apply, amplified: decluttered, clean, bright and neutral. An open house puts your home in front of many people at once, so a weak first impression multiplies.
Timing
Open houses tend to work best early in a listing's life, when interest is highest, and on the weekend days buyers are actually out looking. Timing shapes turnout as much as promotion does.
Security
With strangers moving through, put away valuables, medications and personal documents, and make sure someone is managing the flow. Sensible precautions keep an open house a positive.
Reality check
Plenty of homes sell without one, and most open-house visitors are browsing rather than ready to write. Judge success by feedback and follow-up interest, not just the sign-in sheet.
For you
An open house complements strong photography, online reach and private showings — it doesn't replace them. The right question is whether it adds value for your specific home.
Whether an open house helps depends on the home, the neighbourhood and the moment in the market, so it's a decision to make case by case rather than by default.
Craig builds a marketing plan around each Coquitlam listing and will give you a straight answer on whether an open house earns its place for your home.
General facts about the property — what's included, age, size, strata details — but not the terms of other buyers' offers. BCFSA guidance says a listing licensee can't disclose one buyer's offer terms to another without the seller's prior consent, preferably in writing. It also works the other way: the host owes the seller loyalty and must pass on material information about buyers, so anything you say about your budget or timing can reach the seller. Ask about the home, not the negotiation.
When the conversation moves past general property questions into your motivations or financial qualifications. BCFSA guidance lets licensees host open houses and give general factual answers without paperwork, but if they start asking what you can afford or why you're moving, they should pause and give you the Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services form and, where appropriate, the risks form for non-clients. If you already have a REALTOR®, saying so at the door keeps that conversation from starting.
The things a camera can't capture: road and SkyTrain noise at the time you're visiting, how light moves through the main rooms, smells, water staining under sinks and around windows, and how the floor plan feels with furniture in it. In a strata building, read the notice board and look at common areas — they hint at how the building is run. Use the same written checklist at every home so you can compare a Burquitlam condo and a Port Coquitlam townhome on equal terms afterwards.
Yes — and you should have your own REALTOR® prepare it, with subjects such as financing and inspection where you need them. In BC, most residential purchases also carry a three-business-day Home Buyer Rescission Period after acceptance; cancelling costs 0.25% of the price and must be done in writing, and neither side can waive it. It's a safety valve, not a substitute for doing your homework. If you'd like to plan your open-house weekend first, book a strategy call.
Group homes by city and type, because prices differ more than people expect. In September 2026, the townhouse benchmark was $976,600 in Coquitlam, $940,900 in Port Moody and $834,300 in Port Coquitlam. Seeing all three on one weekend shows you what that gap buys in space, age and location. Check transit as you go: Port Moody and Coquitlam have Millennium Line SkyTrain stations, while Port Coquitlam relies on buses and the weekday West Coast Express.
Put away valuables, medications, keys, mail and anything with personal or financial details, and lock or remove small electronics. Make sure the host can see every room or limits access to areas that can't be supervised. Photograph rooms beforehand so anything out of place is easy to spot afterwards. In a strata building, check how visitors will get through the lobby and elevators so you aren't propping doors open for neighbours. A short walk-through with your agent the day before catches most gaps.
Yes. BC's tenancy guidance says tenants may be present when the unit is entered and can't be made to leave, but they also can't interfere with the landlord's legal right to find a buyer. Without an agreed schedule, each entry needs written notice at least 24 hours ahead, stating the reason, date and time between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. The guidance also asks landlords to avoid holding several open houses in a short period, so plan one well-prepared weekend rather than a series.
Yes. Port Coquitlam's Sign Bylaw allows directional real estate signs on the public right-of-way only on side boulevards, from dawn to dusk, with no more than two per city block and three in total for each property, each no larger than 0.28 m² per face and unlit. The sign on the property itself has separate size limits. Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra each set their own rules, so I check the bylaw for the city a home sits in before placing signs.
Judge it by what happens next, not by the number of names on the sheet. Useful signs are second showings booked, buyers' agents asking for strata documents or disclosure statements, and consistent comments about price or condition that you can act on. If several visitors raise the same concern, that's feedback worth more than the visit count. A free home evaluation before you list helps you read that feedback against where your home is priced.
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September 2026 Coquitlam detached HPI is $1,584,400, -6.6% YoY. What that means for your buy or sell decision — without the salesy fluff. One email per month. Unsubscribe anytime.
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Whether you're touring homes or opening your own door, the weekend goes better with a plan. Here's how I run it for buyers and sellers in the Tri-Cities.
For buyers, I pull every open house that fits your brief across Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, then route them so you see similar homes back to back. I flag anything I already know — strata issues, past listings, assessment changes — so you walk in knowing what to look at closely.
I give you the same written checklist for every stop: noise, light, condition, storage, parking and strata notices. You tell the host you're working with me and keep budget and timing to yourself. Afterwards we compare notes the same evening, while the details are still fresh.
For sellers, I first decide whether an open house suits your home at all. I look at how many similar listings are competing, how quickly comparable homes are selling, whether the home is tenanted, and security. If it's worth doing, I schedule it early in the listing and prepare the home and the paperwork.
After the weekend I contact the buyers' agents who came through, ask what held their clients back, and report the feedback to you in writing. If a pattern appears — price, condition, layout — we discuss it before the next weekend rather than repeating the same open house.
To see how this plays out on real homes, read my Tri-Cities case studies. Read the Tri-Cities case studies →
5.0 stars across 36+ verified Google reviews. Three from recent clients below.
“Craig was patient throughout the entire process. He never pushed us to buy something we weren't sure about, and when we decided to wait six months and save more, he just said ‘good call’ and stayed in touch. When we did finally buy, the math was so much cleaner.”Susie & Hans
“He is a professional who is guided by integrity, honesty, and punctuality. When faced with challenges, Craig has shown his dedication to proactively navigate the issue on hand towards our goal.”Jaeyoung Joo
“Craig was an absolute pleasure to work with. He is extremely friendly, highly knowledgeable, and constantly monitors trends and data so we could make informed decisions. The more time we spent interacting with other agents during our home-buying process, the more pleased we were with choosing Craig.”Ashley K.
Whether you’re buying, selling, or doing both, a 20-minute strategy call gets your questions answered and your next step clear. Or start with a free Equity Map of what your current home is worth.
5.0 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesOr call direct: 604-202-6092