Are Open Houses a Good Idea?
Real estate agents have a wide range of opinions about Open Houses. Some think of them as a shady tactic to snap up unsuspecting home buyers, while others claim they couldn’t run their business without holding Open Houses for their listings.
In some markets, subdivisions and neighborhoods, Open Houses are a respectable way to promote the home to the public. In large subdivisions like Fox Mill or Mill Creek, sellers like Open Houses because they can attract potential buyers into our western suburbs of Chicago.
Open Houses funnel a number of showings into a single time frame when the home looks it’s best for a few hours. Sellers with small children or pets like to encourage buyers to come at a time that works for the family and when the listing agent can show off the best features of the home.
If you and your agent think that Open Houses are a good idea for your listing, you should make sure that the Open House makes the best of your efforts.
Make sure that your Open House is listed a week in advance on the broker site and all the main consumer sites such as Realtor.com and Zillow.com. Your agent should do blog and Facebook posts with the date, time and any special incentives.
I think it’s a great idea to invite the neighbors. You never know when a neighbor will have a friend, relative or co-worker who just might want to live in their neighborhood.
An Open House is a chance for agents to view the home. Many homes have features, views and spaces that will never show up in even the best photos or videos. The breeze coming off the lake or the spacious lawn surrounding the perennial gardens make a home stand out from all the others, and need to be felt and seen to be appreciated.
I encourage agents to bring or send their clients to an Open House. When I do an Open House, I get the list of names off our Multiple Listing Service of agents who have emailed their clients the listing information. Our MLS calls this reverse prospecting. Unless the client has marked “Not interested”, I send this email to the agent:
Dear Sue: I see that your client with public id QT79L2 has marked “INTERESTED” in my listing at 123 Main St in St. Charles MLS#0788276. This home is completely updated with a newly finished walkout basement. I will be holding an Open House this Sunday from 1 to 4. If you think this home would be a good fit for your client, but already have other plans for the day, please send your client over. Email me or have your client bring your business card and mention that they are working with you. I can assure you that I will honor your relationship with your client.
This polite invitation is especially helpful if the agent is located some distance away. Here in the western suburbs of Chicago many of our buyers come from the city. I know how it can be hard to get a buyer client around to all the suburbs , why not make things a little easier for the buyer agents?
My job is to sell a listing and promote it to as many people as possible. An Open House is one more way to break through the clutter in this market.
Originally published at FoxValleyRealEstate.net.
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