Poor Open House turnouts?

I know the story - same here. But I keep doing it. It will payoff eventually.

I HATE open houses. But besides the looky-lou neighbors, the rest of the people who look are probably in the market. Even if its only one it could be worth it.

Plan on some productive work to do and then hope you're interrupted by some lookers.

(You're building character!)

 

I haven't done an open house in many years.  In my market, they don't help sell a house, they are just to humor the seller that thinks they work.  Recent studies show that 94% of the Texas buyer is online looking at houses and then contacting an agent, whereas the NAR stat is 80%...  We're above the curve in getting qualified buyers to look at houses rather than having people aimlessly walking into an open house not in their price range. 

Check out my blog article on this subject http://activerain.com/blogsview/99038/Do-You-Use-This

 

I wish I could tell you a different story. I take my Laptop with me and blog away on active rain.

Here in Strafford county NH we normally do not have a great turnout for open houses.  Surprisingly for me this past weekend, I have 5 couples come through mine.  I don't think I did anything different form the norm, but for some reason the property gained some exposure.

Open houses don't seem to work around these parts anymore (Tampa Bay area).  I've held countless numbers of them and it's always the same turnout.  Maybe a neighbor and luck if one "real buyer" shows up!

With gas prices on the rise, and people being able to search online, I think as time goes on, they will certainly fade away into the past.

I think a lot of agents do open house just to satisfy the seller. They use the open house task as a marketing tool. Open houses are a dime a dozen. They are not a marketing tool anymore.

Open houses are fading away in this Internet search world. At my listing appointment I tell the seller the reasons why I do not do an open house and how they are not useful. The smart seller realizes this and agrees with it.

You get noisy neighbors, non-buyers who have nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon, brick kickers, buyers who are already working with an agent, thieves stealing medicines and money (we can not follow everyone around if we are busy with multiple visitors).

This is a fact: if a buyer wants to see that home they will call their own agent or call you as the listing agent. These are the serious buyers. Serious buyers will not wait all week long to have a window of opportunity to view a home within a 2 hour time period on a Sunday afternoon. If they are doing that, they are not serious buyers. 

Survey:  how many of you have actually received BONA-FIDE listings and buyers through open houses? Be honest. Yes it may work for a few, but how many hours did you put in over the years?