Is Your Real Question, "Are Sunday afternoons for football, yard work, or selling homes?"

The following questions (or some variation) on Open Houses come up during my appointments with home sellers almost every time.

1. Will an Open House sell my home?
   
2. Do you plan on hosting an Open House?
3. Will you have an Open House every Sunday?
4. Can you keep the "nosy" neighbors out?
   
5. Will my home be safe & secure during an Open House?

Answers:

1. Possibly, but the odds are not in your favor.  Open Houses will get a few more people through the property but my experience has shown those visitors to be neighbors, buyers that have little clue if they can afford the house, and people "just starting to look".  Out of 60+ Open Houses in the last few years, one has sold from the Open House and that Buyer had the home in mind before the Open House.  Your actual odds are probably less than 1 in 100 of it selling during the Open House.
2. I am open to hosting Open Houses for my clients.  I don't like to do them too often for a particular home though because you don't want the house to seem like it's desperate or have buyers wonder why it hasn't sold yet.  Many times your Realtor will enjoy hosting the Open House because it provides the opportunity to meet new clients.
3. Almost never....see answer #2.  Doing this will almost always give the wrong impression to Buyers and is not the best use of the Realtor's or Homeowner's time.  Realistically, a thorough and effective marketing plan should eliminate the need for an Open House.
4. Keeping the neighbors out isn't a practical approach.  You can't identify them (without requiring a mini-police state at the front door) if you really wanted to keep them out.  Realistically, it's great when they visit.  Word-of-mouth is a highly effective form of marketing and I encourage neighbors to be thinking about picking their next neighbor.  If they live on your street, chances are they like it and would advise others to do the same.
5. This is a big unknown.  When I host an Open House I really try to keep an eye on the visitors but you can't be "Big Brother" when there is more than one visitor in the house (and you don't want prospective Buyers to feel uncomfortable either!).  The best advice for homeowners is to remove any valuables they think would be attractive targets and don't leave items of value on counter tops.  If safety is a real concern then an Open House is probably not a good option for your home.

If you'd like suggestions to make your Open House as effective as possible feel free to contact me at www.ChampaignExperts.com