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Open House - Good Idea?

By
Real Estate Agent with Nationwide Homes
With Agents looking for ways to gain exposure for their listings while opening up the door to potential buyers & sellers Open Houses are still a must for most listings. The Sunday afternoon Open house seems to draw the buyers... and the neighbors (ask them if they are interested in selling!) The buyers at these events usually come without benefit of a realtor & have just started to look. If you have the patience for sticking around while they 'kick the tires' they can be romanced. Cultivated over a long span of time til they are ready to go. Not my 1st choice but wise to do them to make your seller happy. What do you think?

Comments (19)

LaNita Cates
REMAX of Joliet - Joliet, IL

I love open houses. Most agents sit in the back of the house in the kitchen area. Not me. I sit in the front and make sure that I can see people drive up or slow down. One couple (Dawn and Jeff) stopped their car in front of the flyer box and Dawn got out to grab a flyer. I jumped up and opened the door and yelled out "You can come in and look if you want - no one is here but me". They had the deer in the headlights look and said OK. Well, the house I was sitting at was out of their budget BUT they became my buyer and I sold them a house!

I also sit longer than other agents - normally until 5:00pm. Well my second buyer from an open house was looking all Sunday and on their way home, saw one of my signs and showed up at 4:35pm and they too became my buyer and closed.

Open Houses are awesome!

Dec 30, 2007 01:01 PM
Iriana Shiyan
Artazum, LLC - Bellevue, WA
Atazum Seattle Real Estate Photography
I like open houses and I do go a day before to invite all neighbors to come to the open house. But most of the time people go through it very quickly.
Dec 30, 2007 01:06 PM
Susan Trombley
Trombley Real Estate - Wake Forest, NC
Broker/Realtor, Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forest, Youngs

My area does not do as well with open houses. The sellers like them but their is not as much traffic that way. The better response is the realtor open houses if you are going to do any of them.

A lot of sellers do not care for open houses as I have talked to them. I normally do not do open houses as a rule of thumb. 

Dec 30, 2007 01:07 PM
Dean Moss
Dean's Team - Keller Williams Realty Partners Chicago IL - Chicago, IL
Dean's Team Chicago IL Real Estate Team

Peter -

Great comment, on a hot topic.

I don't do many Open Houses for two reasons.  First, rarely does your client's house sell as a result of the open - although most clients, naively, think the Open House is the most impactful thing we do for them.

Which brings the second thing, given this first thing - I would rather spend Sunday afternoons with my family, than doing something that does not bring direct benefit to my fiduciary.

That being said, however, a few agents we network with have come up with some creative strategies for Open Houses - curious if you or anyone on your Team has heard of or considered these in your market area -

  • Short one-hour Opens - with light refreshements and a drawing - creating a greater sense of urgency.
  • Twilight Opens - several early evenings (six to seven o'clock), on successive days when the house is first listed.
  • Caravan-style Opens - renting a limo or bus, and taking a few select people who qualify, to a bunch of your listings, 15 minutes at a time.
  • Open House Parties - catered affairs, some with an entertainer, again with drawings, with exclusive invitations
  • Doing Open Houses on SATURDAYS, rather than Sundays - since it seems to be the web, rather than Sunday Papers, along with the signage, driving traffic these days.

Trying to go outside the box here, with the key objective of helping sell the client's house.  Oh, by the way, this might be a better source of qualified buyer leads as well.

Would love your insight here!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Dec 30, 2007 01:08 PM
James Downing - Metro DC Houses Team REALTORS®, CRS, GRI, ABR,MRP, MilRes
Real Living | At Home - Washington, DC
When Looking to Buy or Sell - Make the Right Move
Open Houses are what you make of them.. Sit there and read a book and that what you will get.  Work the crowd and you may not only sell the place but pick up a new buyer.
Dec 30, 2007 01:08 PM
Dan Gobis
Re/Max Newport Realty Corp. - Racine, WI

Keeping sellers happy is part of what we do. Sometimes it takes a while to convince them that we know what we are doing. Patience pays, sometimes, with sellers and prospective buyers.

At one open house I had a couple come through, they told me they lived next door, they went right to the raised deck in the backyard. Standing at the open patio door I heard the Mrs. say " I told you they could see us when we were swimming". She left abruptly, Mr. Neighbor came in and said "I told her the neighbors couldn't see us skinny-dipping in our pool, I guess I was wrong".

Gotta love nosey neighbors, from both sides!

Dec 30, 2007 01:14 PM
Simon Conway
Orlando Area Real Estate Services - Orlando, FL
You shoudl do a blog search for Open Houses. Blog entires by me and also Dan Forbes might well be eye openers for you. The bottom line is that less than one per cent of buyers find their homes through open house activity.
Dec 30, 2007 01:20 PM
Sandy Pitchford
Distinct Estates - Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Palm Beach, Jupiter, Tequesta Real Estate

Sellers think you are not doing anything if you don't do open houses, but they do NOT work.. They are for bored people on the weekends looking.. A buyer will find your place regardless if it is open for the weekend. It is a good idea for newbie realtors to try to pick up potential buyer leads, but most of the time they are more a waste of time.

Dec 30, 2007 01:23 PM
Rick Tourgee
Robert Paul Properties, Inc. - Provincetown, MA
Provincetown and Cape Cod

Peter- Open houses are a great way to give the listing exposure as well as getting your name out there.  I think of open houses as a way to get potential Buyers or Sellers.  Very seldom does an open house that given property of the open house.

However, I think it is vital during open houses that Agents ask many of the right questions.  I have been to an open house or two where the Agent just sat there and didn't ask many questions at all.......that's not the way to do an open house.

Dec 31, 2007 09:19 AM
Latonia Parks
Top Bragg Realty, Fayetteville NC, Home of the 82d ABN DIV - Fayetteville, NC
Certified Military Relocation Expert
I just commented on another blog regarding this.  I do them as a new agent and I am in a new construction area.  The houses are moving so I would like to have an advertised Open house party courtesy of the bldr.  I guess the drawing would have to be the lure/bait.  Still in thought....
Dec 31, 2007 10:35 AM
Julie Akyol
Century 21, J.J. Laufer - Highland Park, NJ

Open houses are hit or miss in my area (Central NJ). I've spent many an afternoon with no one stopping by, and other times (very few, though) have had great turn outs.  I can't figure out what the trick is...advertising? We typically only do internet advertising in my area, occassionally open houses are put in the paper. Weather? Well, I've had great turnouts in the pouring rain and no one on sunny days, and vis-a-versa.  Wonderful houses in terrific locations? Doesn't always make a difference.  When I absolutely have to do an open house (Mr. Seller thinks this is what's going to sell his house), I like to keep it short (no more than 2 hrs) and put signs up everywhere a day or 2 before...I think that does make a difference. 

 

Jan 01, 2008 09:11 AM
Chris Mitchell
Keller Williams - Nashville, TN
CallNashvilleHome.com
We usually don't get a lot of traffic in my area either, I think the most I have seen is 3 couples. I have picked up a seller at an open house but not any buyers. Also I hold more open houses for other realtors in my office than I do my own. I never quite understood why they didn't hold open their own listings.
Jan 01, 2008 09:14 AM
www.SeeAllListings. com
SeeAllListings.com - Camarillo, CA
Very rarelt will you sell the house you are holding open, but this is a great way to pick up buyers that you can work with.
Jan 07, 2008 04:54 AM
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County
This horse has been kicked around so much...It is an individual agent and seller decision. I do them on "good" properties. Rarely will the house sell but leads do happen.
Jan 08, 2008 02:15 AM
* Rate A Home
Rate A Home - Saugatuck, MI

The open house will most likely be around for years to come. There's no replacement for hands on viewing.

Jan 08, 2008 03:03 AM
Sandy Nelson
Riley Jackson Real Estate Inc. - Olympia, WA
your Olympia area Realtor

If the house is vacant I hold open houses as often as I can. I actually bought a home a few years ago after driving by an open house sign on a Sunday afternoon, thinking "what the heck, let's look". The agent holding the house open wasn't the listing agent and I don't think the either agent ever knew the open house got them a buyer.

Sandy

Jan 08, 2008 03:20 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
Open houses have their place and can be hit or miss. Mainly for finding buyers and you will be lucky if they buy the house you are standing in.
Jan 08, 2008 12:49 PM
Matthew Zgonc
Aksland Real Estate - Modesto, CA
Realtor, CFS, CVS
An open house, in my opinion, is something done to keep the seller happy. In my experience I generally sell a person another house other than the one they came to at the open house. It is a good way to get listings and buyers.
Jan 09, 2008 01:36 AM
Anthony Saunchez
Campa Properties - San Bernardino, CA
How can we be of service
The effect has to do with how much traffic you generate. A great source for qualified leads, both buyers and sellers.
Jan 22, 2008 02:07 AM