Let's face it...a lot of Agents don't do them anymore. They can be dangerous. They can invite in trouble and they can be a waste of precious weekend time. An in depth discussion with your Agent can determine if they are right for you and your family.
However, over the course of 12 years we've discovered the following:
Myth & Truth #1: Neighbors are going to be in my house, nosing around. And while initially this is true, they are also the voice of your community and since homes do sell often times to friends of friends in your neighborhood....why the heck not let them nose around? Haven't you known someone that has been interested in living where you do? Anything that may instigate a "showing" on your home is one step closer to a sale.
Myth & Truth #2: A real buyer would be pre-approved and looking with their Realtor this weekend and my home would get shown to them anyway. True again and yet not everyone does the home buying thing in the right order. Pre-approval first and so on and so forth. Or maybe their Realtor is not available today and they are out just driving around. Maybe they don't even know what they want yet and since home buying is "an emotional purchase" most of the time...well you just never know what can be accomplished when folks see the right house.
And with all of the internet marketing available...homes are deleted from showing lists often due to misconceptions about the home based on photos or lack of information. (Example later)
Myth & Truth #3: Nothing ever comes of it. Well I would beg to differ. On our latest listing alone, 2 qualified showings resulted from open houses because the Realtors stopped by the open house and decided that the home in fact did match the criteria of the Buyer or...yep you guessed it...they had ruled the home out based on a misconception of the usability of the lot.
Myth & Truth #4: My agent just wants to do an open house to get more business. This may be the truest statement of all and yet it doesn't negate in any way the desire and goal to sell your home in the process. And if number 1, 2 and 3 above hold true than isn't it worth it?
Quote from our latest open house "Well, I saw the pictures of this house when my Agent sent it to me but I thought it was somewhere else and further away from town than this and had ruled it out." Hmmm.
It is a back to basics market and Open Houses are one of the basics!
You may not sell the house, but you will get some valuable feed back from the visitors. and nosy neighbors like to pick out their new neighbors and will refer friends if they like the home!
and it never hurts to build your SOI with the people that visit!
Robert you are so right about bringing up the feedback issue!
Hi April, I agree with you. We have a closing today directly due to me holding the listing open. Last year about 30% of our business came as a result of our open house activities, including the sale of several of our listings.
Gary and April, I always suggest that my business partners (agents) hand out clip boards with a quick survey of the house so that the potential buyers can give you some written feed back, just a few quick questions about the house gets them more involved in looking at the house, and gives the agent an extra few minutes to help build that relationship with them.
Gary and April, I think it might depend on where you are working. Here, opens are a license to print money, at least the way I do them. Other places and other agents, maybe not.
It is all about the local market. I am no fan of opens in Westchester County, but in New York City they are indispensable.
From the desk of David Dee,
Gary/April, I think it is a good idea to do Open House. However, it comes back to location of where we're doing them. If it is in a highly visible area or sough after tract it will generate quite a bit of traffic from my experience.
Open House offers an opportunity to meet potential buyers. I've even brought along a knowlegable lender to join me and we offered wealth of information and talking points.
If I have a great home, I'll do an open house. But sometimes I do an open house for a home that has issues -- ones that the owner won't listen to my advice on. Sometimes if they hear it from comments left by open house visitors, it rings more true!
The fact that you can get a collective group of house hunters into your open house in one afternoon sure does beat having to prepare for 5-10-15 separate showings at times that might not be convenient for your seller. I'm a big fan.
Gary and April, Great post... In my opinion (or at least in my market area), I think open houses are important because you never know where a buyer is coming from. Just last year alone I closed on 5 sides which I would have never had gotten. In addition, I provides a way to meet people in your community......
One of the agents in my office loves working open houses and she does well getting buyers from it!
TRUTH: Before I was an agent - I found (and bought) my last two homes by seeing them at Open Houses. Oh and YES; I had a agent both times !
Love how you've couched this--myth and truth, so often just opposite sides of the same coin. The "nosey neighbor" (negative side of the coin)--who on the other side of the coin is that "well-connected", people broker/bird dog sort of person that can facilitate a sale and/or bring you a buyer!
April,
I too love working open houses....my seller's appreciate knowing I am doing all I can to show their home....and yes other agents clients come looking....and I am glad to of shown and follow up with their agent...and off the subject...I love your signature!