Most experience a home for sale as a tour, but for Beaufort County real estate professionals, it’s much more. Every home is an opportunity: for a sale, certainly, but also to match a buyer up with his dream house. But in order to provide the dream house, brokers have to know that it’s out there; they have to experience it themselves, according to Maria Wilson, owner/broker with Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty in Washington.

“You feel a house. Real estate is so much about emotion,” Wilson said. “You’re trying to look for property through (the buyer’s) eyes, and when you’ve gone around and seen 10 properties with them, you get a feel for what they like.”

While most people are aware of open houses for those in the market for a house, not many are aware that brokers regularly host open houses for one another. This week, Wilson and listing agent Andrea Heekin held just such an event at a home on Jackson Swamp Road in Bath. Brokers were given the chance to walk through the house, become familiar with its features and network with other industry professionals.

“It’s so that brokers in the area can visually see the property and be familiar with it without having to make an appointment, in hopes that they’ll have a client who would be interested,” Wilson said.

It’s a regular event for brokers in the Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty office: each Tuesday, after their regular sales meeting, they pile into their cars and, as a group, go visit the new listings in their inventory, no matter who the house is listed with.

“When a buyer calls our office, we want whoever they’re talking to be able to talk about (the house),” Wilson said. “If one of the brokers on call duty gets a call, they can do more than mumble into the phone and read off the listing. They can say, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a great house. You should see this feature, this feature and this feature.’ It gives them a good chance to see the inventory; it makes us better at our jobs.”

The Jackson Swamp Road open house was not just for Beaufort County brokers, however. Wilson and Heekin reached out to Greenville brokers, as well as others others who have a vested interest in getting Beaufort County properties sold. They ranged from brokers and owners of real estate firms, to bankers, mortgage brokers, house stagers and photographers who specialize in homes photography, including 360-degree digital home tours.

For Michael Farmer and Tiffany Bethune it was an opportunity to let people know about the services ALCOVA Mortgage in Greenville offers. The company works with potential buyers of all credit scores to pre-approve them for mortgages offered through the company and match them up with realtors.

“Everything is in-house,” Bethune said.

“We run the gamut of financing for everybody,” Farmer said. “We help people out with credit issues and everything.”

One reason why the two are expanding their services east is because banks are the only option for mortgages in Beaufort County; another is the housing market itself.

“We’re seeing such a shortage of houses in Pitt County that we’re looking at Beaufort County,” Farmer said, adding that many of those looking for property are employees working with Vidant Medical Center. Farmer said medical professionals who are moving to the area from more urban locations have no issue with the commute to Greenville from Washington, especially if it means they get a nicer property for less money.

“You can move down here and get an amazing house and still not have the (long) commute. People are loving it,” Farmer said. “Who wouldn’t want to live on the water for $250-300,000?”

Deborah Page Wright was there to let people know about the services her decorating firm offers to the real estate industry.

“I come in and I get a feel for the house — traditional, casual, contemporary — and I just try to step in to create the ambience, whatever flavor it is,” Wright said.

At Tuesday’s gathering, she’d added antique wing chairs framing the great room fireplace, a low table and sofa and various accessories to give the room a comfortable feel, but not so comfortable that a potential buyer couldn’t imagine their own furniture in the room.

“It was an opportunity for a few people to meet her and for her to take credit for her great work,” Wilson said.

Networking with industry professionals and the off chance someone has the perfect buyer in mind are the main reasons why brokers attend these open houses, but they most often also get a catered meal out of the deal. That means a lot to people who often eat on the run, according to Wilson.

“We feel like it’s a good tool for us,” Wilson said. “We really believe that we’re better for it. It’s a great time to see what’s on the market, and you just know your stuff better.”