I hate doing open houses.  Just a waste of time to me. 

Hello,

Welcome to Active Rain and congratulations on your first post.  Open houses are a subject that are like real estate,......the answer is determined by your location.....some areas benefit from open houses and apparently according to the blogs I read here, some do not.....

Open houses are a benefit to the Realtor that is holding it open since you have the opportunity to follow up with the people who came in and sell them another house that they really are interested in if they don't like the one you are holding open.

Congrats on being featured in an article in the Boston Globe.

i have been saying the same for years. If you look at the profile of buyers and sellers published by the NAR the reults of how all buyers found homes, less than 2% of all home sales came from open houses.

I point out this fact at every listing appointment and let the sellers know that I have a better chance of picking up new buyers to work with than selling your home. And at the time i have enough buyers to work with already. That and the buyers coming through are not pre-qualified, meaning we don't even know if they can afford a new car, let alone your house.

we are much better off marketing to agents, and having a virtual tour, to get to the qualified buyers.

Kristen.. I usually do an open house, because we represent the seller, and they feel an open house is still the way to sell property.  I haven't brought in any offers the day of the open house.  Like most I have obtained buyers through them though.

I believe that open houses are just another way of marketing a home.  Every percent counts and it shows that the listing agent is doing his/her job for the seller.  Personally I don't think it by itself will sell a home though.  It's just another tool

I think Open House is great to generate leads...not so great to actually get the home sold.  I'll do them on occasion to make the seller happy...just think of all the blogging you can do while you sit in an EMPTY, quiet home! ha!

Craig Proctor said a few years ago that only 6% of open houses generate a sale.  This was also said during the boom years.  I believed it when he said it then (from personal experience) and I now believe that number to be much lower.

An open house, to me, is a way to showcase your home to nosy neighbors and a way to pick up new clients.  In my own experiences, they are good for nothing else.

I would much rather invest my time and money into an activity that may actually help sell the home for the seller.

Many sellers, however, have come to believe that open houses sell listings.  They were probably told this by agents who wanted to hold them to pick up a new client every few weeks with minimal effort.  If I were the seller, I would think "hey, they just picked up a new client and now have less time for me!"  Also, new agents are eager to hold open houses because it is also where they can pick up clients.

My opinion is that open houses are self-serving for...the real estate agent!

LOL, if I sell, perhaps I will tell my agent who wants to hold an open house that I want a referral fee for any new client they pick up.  After all, it is my belief that it's all they are good for. :)

Hi Kristen,  I do 5 - 10 opens each week.  To me they are really no different than doing floor time.  Yes, I have sold an open listing as well as others directly from contacts at open houses.

Ooh, Bill just made a good point though -- they can help sell other listings.  I have found that open houses are primarily visited by neighbors who are thinking about entering the market at some point.  Although they probably plan to move out of the neighborhood, it may be a great chance to sell them on another listing.

good post..I don't like to do open houses..it depends on the area that you are in..

Here's my take.

Open Houses:

1. Shut the seller up and make it appear "something is being done."

2.  Turn your sellers home into a lead generation site

3.  Bring in unqualified and often unrepresented buyers

4.  Bring in kids with dirty shoes and multiple families and multiple times exposing potential issues around the home and its contents.

5.  are OUT dated!

6. waste your sellers time/gas and energy.

Thank you all for your comments! I know that there is a big difference in results based on our regions and I'm glad to hear that opens have worked for some!

Hello Kristen,

Welcome to Active Rain and congrats on your first post! The opportunities to learn and network are incredible here. Best of luck to ya!

 -Keith

Two of my biggest buyers were ones that came to one of my open houses. No, they didn't buy THAT house but they became my buyers!