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The company for which I work is very big on OPEN HOUSES. I think they are great, but I dont know if their sole purpose is to sell a home, give newer agents experience or to pacify the sellers.
I've hosted many open houses and it doesnt seem to be a good use of my time. I rather find other ways to have face-to-face interactions with potential buyers/sellers.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I am appauled by the number of sellers who feel this way. When you first met your agent did he/she give you the impression that he/she might be doing more to help sell your home?
well, in our case an open house is the only way I know my agent is doing anything at all.
I agree with blessings.
I live in Florida and there seems to be little cooperation down here between realtor offices. We had zero realtors through our MLS Open House. Zero! Not one realtor was interested in her listing! If my agent does not sell my house then it will not sell. She has been running OHs every weekend and yes, I believe they are effective. The last home to sell in our subdivision sold in an OH. She was the Listing and Selling realtor.
When we sold our home in Northern Virginia, OHs were the only way to go. We had 1 OH and 3 offers by the end of the day. I know these were different times (2005) but I'm sold on open houses.
The home I am currently trying to sell is in a gated community. Again, OHs are the only way a buyer can even get through the gates to drive by.
Open houses are not a very good way to sell homes. However, they are a reasonable way for agents to find unrepresented buyers. That's usually why brokerages encourage new agents to hold open houses (either for their own listings or an established agent).
While it does happen occasionally, the odds of a buyer choosing a home based on visting during an open house are very low. Most buyers who are actively looking for homes have an agent and they usually arrange appointments to see the homes that meet their needs. While some buyers do go to open houses in neighborhoods in which they are interested, it's such a "shotgun" approach that they are unlikely to stumble upon a home meeting their needs this way.
Sellers are generally of 2 minds with open houses. First, they want tangible evidence that their agent is doing something to market their homes, which an open house (or caravan) provides. But they generally don't appreciate the need to put the house in top condition in preparation for the open house, particularly when they find that most of the people who showed up were just nosy neighbors (many of whom are getting ready to put their own home on the market and want to scope out the competition) and that no qualified buyers expressed interest in the home based on the open house.
Personally, I provide my clients with weekly marketing updates, including as many statistics as I can access, to let them see real results. I will hold open houses on occassion, but only if the seller agrees to have the place in tip top condition.
So what do you think of hosting open houses every weekend? It seems like a good way to see the condition of the house and appease the seller at the same time.
So what do you think of hosting open houses every weekend? It seems like a good way to see the condition of the house and appease the seller at the same time.
Your thoughts?
I think this is a terrible time of year to host open houses. Most people spend the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping for presents, and the buyers out there who are desperate to get into a house before the end of the year are not wandering the streets looking for open houses -- they are getting appointments to visit the homes the want to see.
I'm assuming you're holding a different house open every weekend? Not the same one multiple weekends in a row? If your clients want the house held open (not all clients do, particularly during the holidays) and you are able to do it and don't mind, it might serve a purpose. Just don't expect that it will find you a buyer for any of those listings.
Also, very important any time of year -- make sure the house is in excellent shape BEFORE the open house. If you show up at the open house hoping to "see the condition of the house" and it's a disaster area, then not only is your time about to be well and truly wasted, but any money that you put into advertising the open house is also down the toilet.
IMPORTANT for holiday season. People usually have even more "easy to steal" stuff in their home over the holidays. Make sure they do not leave shopping bags of presents (or even wrapped presents) around the house during the open house. Thieves do not take holidays.
Is it safe to say that Openhouse's DONT hurt the sale of a home? They can only HELP!
The level in which they help may vary, but all-in-all they seem like a good thing.
A keen part of selling a home is making sure the home is marketed correctly. Marketing does not only occur through one media outlet. Marketing a home is not just putting an ad in the newspaper, or the internet. Agents should be using numerous marketing strategies to give the property MAXIMUM EXPOSURE (think of an octapus effect).
No, they don't hurt the sale of the home, but they are a big drain on time and resources (not only yours, but also the seller's since they must be gone from the house and have it in top shape in order to maximize the potential of the open house).
OF COURSE you must use numerous marketing strategies to sell a house. But unless you have unlimited time and money to devote to your listings, you must also pay attention to the return on your investment (ROI) for those various marketing strategies.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't do open houses. Not only do they occasionally pay off in every market but there are obviously some markets where they may be more effective than others. The point is that over time you have to determine where you will best spend your time, money, and energy. I think you'll find that most experienced agents tend to consider open houses rather a waste of time. They still do them sometimes. And they still occasionally get a buyer (and rarely even a buyer for the open house!) but if you have limited time, money, or energy, you might want to focus on more effective marketing strategies.
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