8 Ways House Hunting Is Basically Trick-or-Treating for Adults

There’s no definite answer as to how old is “too old” to go trick-or-treating. But let’s face it, if you’re old enough to buy a house, you’re probably going to get some nasty looks if you throw on a costume and go knocking on people’s doors looking for candy handouts.

However, you can relive the childhood thrill of trick-or-treating as a home buyer…

While you might not get away with knocking on doors in costume anymore, house hunting lets you live out the thrill of Halloween—minus the sugar rush! Check out these 8 ways house hunting is similar to the trick-or-treating:

1) The anticipation as you walk up to a house…

Remember hoping every house you were walking up to was going to be the one that had king-sized candy bars? You’ll have that same feeling every time you’re walking up to a house you’re going to see, hoping it has more to offer than any other house you’ve been to yet.

2) Trying to get to a house before it’s too late…

Whether it’s scoring your fair share of candy, or snagging the perfect home, the race is on. You want to get there before everyone else does, because houses—like candy—sometimes disappear faster than you’d expect!

3) Sometimes you need to wait for your turn…

Whether it’s an open house, or a hot new listing with back-to-back showings, sometimes you’ve got to wait in line to see a house like you did back in the day when other kids were lining up at a house to get candy.

4) What’s behind the door can be disappointing…

When it comes to searching for a house, sometimes the online photos make it look way better than reality. It’s like walking up to a high-end house when trick-or-treating, fully expecting the owner to be doling out Snickers—at least the “Fun Size” ones—and getting a scoop full of candy corn instead.

5) But sometimes the opposite happens…

On the other hand, sometimes you look at a house you almost crossed off your list because the pictures online didn’t look all that promising, and it ends up being way better than you expected! It’s just like that house on your street where the little old lady lived and you thought would be giving out boxes of raisins on Halloween, and she ended up giving you the best loot of the night.

6) The house you didn’t get to in time…

Whether it’s house hunting or trick-or-treating, it pays to get to the door ASAP. Taking your time to go see a house you’re interested in could lead to finding out the house is under contract already, which is the equivalent to getting to a house right after they’ve run out of candy on Halloween.

7) There’s always a house that gives you the creeps…

Every neighborhood has the house you want to avoid on Halloween because there’s a creepy old man living there, or it just looks spooky from the road. Some houses will give you that same vibe when house hunting, because of some crazy urban legend about it being haunted, or just some scary decor.

8) It’s fun to separate the keepers from the throwaways…

After a long day of house hunting (or trick-or-treating), it’s fun to assess the pros and cons of each house you saw. Which houses made the best impression? Which ones were a total letdown? It’s the adult version of dumping all of the candy out of your bag and sorting through it to make a pile of the candy you want, and making a separate pile to trade or give to your parents.