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Open House...Is It Worth It??

By
Real Estate Agent with Mississippi Magnolia

Here I sit.  Cookie in one hand, laptop in another, and pondering whether an Open House is worth it??  Not a soul has graced the entrance, and it has taken over 3 hours out of my Sunday afternoon with my family, critters and a nice nap.

My conclusion????  YES!!  Yes I'm crazy, but that's for another post.  ;)

No I don't have large turn outs (sometimes NONE!)...  No I don't have fun watching the grass grow...  But I do enjoy FREE advertising!!

To prepare for an Open House, my company places an ad in Saturday and Sunday's paper (with my picture and contact info of course!!), they send out postcards, flyers, etc., our MLS sends out e-mail blasts to promote the listing, my schedule goes online for plenty to see, and I look GREAT to prospective sellers!!

Did I sell the house??  Of course not.  BUT, my Sellers are happy, potential Sellers see that I will hold an Open House for their well deserving property ;) , and I have my name plastered all over my small town for over a week!!

So that ALL of you don't think I'm nuts, there are plenty of reasons not to hold open houses.  In my small town, it benefits me.  And no, I don't hold them on all of my listings.

Have a GREAT day!!

Posted by
- - - -
 

Stephanie Arnett

Licensed Broker + Crypto Specialist
Author: Forbes | Inman News | BossBabe | Newsweek

c. 662-546-1769
o. 662-268-7928
 
 
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Comments (4)

Ellen Crawford
Maximum One Executive REALTORS® - Alpharetta, GA
Alpharetta Real Estate Agents & Alpharetta REALTOR

""Is It Worth It??" Absolutely not!  Over the years I have found that 'open house' are useless.  They used to be used to pick up buyers in the pre-Internet days!  IDX changed out way of thinking.

Aug 30, 2009 10:50 AM
AJ Heidmann ~ CRS
McEnearney Associates, Inc. - Alexandria, VA
YOUR Alexandria & Arlington, VA Real Estate Expert

I think that answer depends on where you're located and the price point of the home.  As predominantly listing agents we are seeing strong traffic for most properties under the $600K price point here in the close-in Northern Virginia areas.  On the lower end, things are very busy with the 1st time home buyer $8K credit and had two buyers come through our open house initially and then come back with their agents and ultimately buy the property.  They still provide a valuable service to our sellers by providing greater access to the buying public.

Real estate is local and open houses are local too!

Aug 31, 2009 04:45 AM
Home Loan Search.Online
Home Loan Search Online - Newnan, GA

AJ & Jodee are right. It really depends on where you are at, but it can't hurt to have the added exposure from your company.

Oct 26, 2009 05:18 AM
Megan Izdebska & Hanna Manoufar Chandler, Scottsdale Real Estate Agent
United Brokers Group - Chandler, AZ
Double Commitment. Double Results.

I guess we must be crazy too. We do open houses at least twice a month.....and not complains from us. We think about those few hours as part of the job.
Usually we have a preatty good traffic and most of our first clients came from the open houses. So we can not agree that open house is not worth it. It is totally worth it!

Nov 11, 2009 12:12 PM