Use of bathroom during open house.

[72ndRoad]

Hello fellow FSBOs!

I've been hosting open house for two months now and every now and then I have people who ask to use the bathroom. What is a polite way to tell them “No”?

[lower_nyc]

Hello fellow FSBOs!
I ve been hoisting open house for two months now and every now and then I have people who ask to use the bathroom. What is a polite way to tell them “No”?

How about something honest and helpful, such as: "Is there any chance you'd be willing to use the bathroom downstairs at [nearest public bathroom location]? We need to keep our bathroom in show-ready condition, so we're not letting anyone use it while we're showing the apartment."

[HauseitAdmin]

That's probably one of the best responses we've seen to be honest, kudos lower_nyc!

This definitely is tricky. You obviously don't want the risk of someone making your bathroom smelly or inaccessible in the middle of an open house (what a nightmare). At the same time, you want to be polite as you don't want to risk angering a potential buyer or buyer's agent.

With that said, most buyers' agents will know better than to ask to use the bathroom in the middle of an open house.

Would definitely suggest a polite response along the lines of what lower_nyc suggested. Say that the no bathroom policy applies to everyone, so they're not being singled out. And the excuse can simply be that you need to keep it in pristine condition for showings. Sorry, use the Starbucks down the street, or just hold it!