Open House Signage Rules in Claremont

Directional signs are the least glamorous part of an open house and one of the few parts that can generate a complaint, a fine, or a confrontation on a Sunday morning. They are also, on a street that carries traffic, one of the things that most reliably increases the number of people who come through the door.

Worth getting right, then, and it takes about twenty minutes of checking.

There is no single rulebook, and that is the whole problem

Sellers assume signage is governed by one authority. It is governed by at least four, and they overlap.

The city. Municipalities regulate temporary signs in the public right of way, and the rules vary considerably from one city to the next: what may be placed, where, how large, how many, on which days, and for how long. Some cities are permissive about weekend open house signs and some are not. Confirm the current requirements with the City of Claremont before you place anything, and confirm them again if you are placing signs in a neighboring city on the route.

The right of way itself. The strip between the sidewalk and the street, the median, the traffic island, and the corner are usually public land, and public land is exactly where the rules bite. A sign on private property with the owner's permission is a different question from a sign staked into a parkway.

Homeowners associations. Where a community has one, its rules govern the common area and often the streets within it, and they are frequently stricter than the city's. Some prohibit directional signage entirely. Check the governing documents rather than assuming, and remember that a management company saying yes on the phone is not the same as the documents saying yes.

The property owner at the corner. If the best sign location is on somebody's lawn, ask them. Every time, even if you asked last month.

None of this is dramatic. It is simply four calls and a look at the CC&Rs, and it is far cheaper than a citation or a neighbor pulling your signs out of the ground.

Where signs actually do work

Assume you have confirmed you may place them. There is a craft to it, and most sign placement is done badly.

• Start at the decision point, not at the house. The sign that matters is the one at the intersection where a driver has to choose. Placing four signs on your own block and none at the arterial is the most common error.
• Work backwards along the actual route. Drive the approach a buyer would drive, from the direction traffic comes from, and place signs where you personally would have needed one.
• One decision per sign. An arrow and an address. Not a list of features, not a price, not a headshot at the size of the arrow. A driver has about a second.
• Height and angle matter more than quantity. A sign angled toward oncoming traffic and standing above the level of parked cars outperforms three signs lying flat at knee height.
• Do not obstruct sight lines. A sign that blocks a driver's view of a crosswalk or oncoming traffic is a hazard, and it is the fastest route to a complaint.
• Do not block the sidewalk. A sign narrowing a walkway is both a hazard and an accessibility failure, which is the same discipline described in accessibility at a Claremont open house.

The parts people forget

Count them and retrieve them all. Write down how many went out and where. Signs left overnight are the single most common source of neighbor complaints, and they make the listing look neglected. Retrieve them the same evening.

Weather them properly. Wind knocks signs into the street. Weighted bases, proper stakes, and a check partway through the event if it is gusty.

Balloons and flags. Often restricted, frequently prohibited by an association, and they detach and end up in someone's yard or a storm drain. Check before you buy them.

Keep the yard sign current. A weathered, faded, or crooked sign in front of the house does more damage than the directional signs do good, because it is the first thing a buyer sees and it reads as a listing nobody is tending.

Signs are only one input

It is worth keeping this in proportion. Directional signage catches drive-by and neighborhood traffic, which is real but partial. Most visitors at a modern open house arrived because they saw the listing online and put it in a plan. The sign confirmed the address; it did not create the visit.

So do the signage properly and do not treat it as the marketing plan. It is one channel, and it works best on a street that already carries traffic. Whether the whole open house is the right instrument for a given property is a separate question, taken up in open house or private showings.

What sellers should actually ask their agent

• Have you confirmed the current sign rules with the city for this address, and for any neighboring city on the route?
• Does this community have an association, and what do its documents say about temporary signage?
• Where exactly are the signs going, and did you drive the route to decide?
• Who places them, who retrieves them, and how many are there?
• What is the plan if the wind picks up?

These sound fussy. They are the difference between a smooth Sunday and a call from a code enforcement officer, and the answers take a minute.

One thing to avoid entirely

Do not place signs on utility poles, street furniture, traffic control devices, or anything else that is not yours, and do not staple, tape, or zip-tie anything to public infrastructure. It is commonly prohibited, it looks cheap, and the residue outlives the listing by years.

Similarly, do not place a sign in front of a house whose owner has asked you not to. It is a small thing that produces a lasting grudge on a street where your seller may still have to live for another two months.

The short version

Confirm the rules with the city, the association, and the corner property owner before anything goes in the ground. Place signs at decision points along the route a buyer would actually drive, one message per sign, angled at traffic and clear of sight lines and sidewalks. Count them out, count them back, and never leave one overnight.

More on running a Claremont open house properly is on the Claremont open houses hub. Anthony Grynchal has been licensed in California since November 2009.