Cowichan Valley Open Houses
Where to Find Them, and How to Use One ProperlyCowichan Valley open houses run mostly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, heaviest from March through September, and they cluster in Duncan, North Cowichan and Mill Bay. Rural and acreage properties are rarely held open here, so this list skews toward town.
The valley does not have enough weekend volume for a full circuit, so plan around what is actually on. A typical Saturday might have four or five, spread from Chemainus to Mill Bay, which is 45 minutes end to end. If you tell me the weekend you are free I will map a route and get you into the ones that fit, including a few that are shown by appointment only.
One thing worth knowing before you walk in: the agent hosting the open house works for the seller. Signing the sheet is normal and polite, and it also puts you on their list. If you are already working with me, say so at the door. It costs you nothing, it keeps the follow up calls down, and it means anything you say in the kitchen is not being relayed to the other side.
Use the visit for the things photos cannot show you. Run a tap and listen to the pressure, open the panel, put your head into the crawlspace, smell the back bedrooms, and stand on the street for two minutes listening for the highway or the rail line. Then come back at a different time of day before you write, because a house on a quiet Sunday afternoon is not the same house at 8am on a Tuesday.