Open houses - What are they good for? Absolutely nothing

Open houses -  What are they good for?  Absolutely nothing. 

Say it again!  Have I gotten my point across now?  The general concensus among realtors is that open houses almost never sell that house.  Think about that for a minute and whether or not you, as a realtor or FSBO, have ever sold your home or listing.  So why do realtors do it?  Because their sellers insist on it and are forced to please them.  Why do FSBOs do it?  Because they have no choice.  They are too cheap to advertise or hire a professional realtor. 

My best friend is a mortgage broker and spent a ton of money sponsoring an open house yesterday.  He invited tons of guests and only three showed.  So all that of that time and money down the drain for what?  Nothing.  Say it again. 

And what about all the gated communites in South Florida who do not allow signage or open houses, which is the majority?  My take on this is simply that open houses attract tire kickers, sort of like a yard sale.  They look and act interested, but in the end nobody buys a damn thing.  Instead of this concentrate your money and efforts on something that attracts not just attention, but quality attention.  Grass roots marketing works, and one might argue that an open house is grass roots, but in my opinion how is inviting over your neighbors to peek at your home grass roots?