The only thing that I have seen work consistanly is a caravan of multiagents where the rules say if you do not attend even if you do not have a house on caravan you do not get to put one on

What works in our area is LUNCH! Drawings and things like that don't seem to work but a nice catered lunch works great. These lunches are NOT always sponsored. It works best when the agent handles it all themselves. One agent gave away turkeys (with their builder) at Thanksgiving and they had more people there than ever.

Agent open houses are mostly for the Seller's so they think you are doing everything you can to get their home viewed.

With gas prices so high, it is hard to get the agents to come even for a free lunch.

I agree with Charlie, that is one way for it to work consistently.

I think it sort of works. I like opens with food otherwise i would rather get something else done.

I think my question was misinterpreted. 

Are the agents that are coming out actually selling properties, or are they just wandering around looking for good food and free stuff?

Charlie - What about Buyer's Agents?  They aren't listing, so that isn't going to be an inducement to them... and they are selling more than the listing specialists.

Susan, Anon & Chuck - I hear you, but are the people that are coming out likely to actually sell the property?

Lane, 

Yes, in any market offering food and door prizes works.

I look for comparable listings and ask the listing agents to join in and have that listing open as well. It encourages more involvement from other offices.

I don't hold Agent open houses to sell the house. I hold open houses to expose my listings to as many Realtors as possible and create some synergy about the house. Next time one of those agents comes across a buyer in that area and price they already know the product and me. Which means they are more likely to show it.

Here's a strange thing, agents love to gossip about really great houses! It's all about exposure. Another way to look at an open house is as an opportunity to meet people you have not met before and use it as a networking event. You may even run into some old friends you haven't seen in a while.

During my last open house, fully self catered with lots of door prizes, I was approached by two agents wanting to hang their hats with my company! I knew both of them from way back but they had not considered me till they got the invitation to the open house. This open house cost me about $300.00 total. Bringing on two multi-million dollar producers....priceless! If you work for one of the companies that pays you a percentage of any new agents' production you bring on board, this could work in your favor as well.

In my opinion, having a successful open house means thinking outside the box and using it as an opportunity to expand your sphere of influence.

Lane, I think anything can work or not work. It does harken from old school, but nothing beats knowing the location of a property and what it looks like inside. Gripes today are the cost to drive out to it. Everyone likes a free lunch. It is also a great Realtor networking event.

Tour weekly has been my motto and I've done it for years.  The Wed. tours seem to be declining, however, because of gas prices.  We used to drive 15 miles to a house and have great fun doing it.  Now we prefer to have photos and not many will drive that far.  I personally resent having to drive across town to the meeting place and then possibly having to drive back to my side of town to see the houses on tour.  It is time for us to change our ways of doing things.  Food is a fairly good bribe if it includes a lunch.

Hi Lane, we both know the inducements are to get people to come.  I never liked the property tours when that gig was happening.  I always had better things to do.  90% of the home I show now I have never been in before.  It does help to know the property you are showing.  I don't do it.  I have better things to do then provide decorating ideas!  Nice post Lane.

Your right Lane, its really a waste of the agent's money.  But , like it was said above, you want to show the seller that you did everything possible to get as many agents as possible. 

All - The question remains...  Are the agents that are coming out really agents that sell, or are they just people looking for free food?

Good Question Lane.  In my area on a typical Tuesday there will be about 55 homes open.  Way too many to choose from.  The thing that seems to work best is when several homes in the same neighborhood are held open with a progressive lunch and drawing.  Does it actually help to sell the home - probably not.  Personally I tour homes that I might have a current buyer for or homes in a neighborhood that I may not be as familiar with as I would like.

Our agent caravan has producing agents touring these homes.  I love to see the inventory but I also enjoy looking at the houses for decorating ideas.

That's a great point about what agents actually GO to these events.  When I am at my busiest, I'm not able to go to anything like that for the giveaways. 

All - I'm glad to know that there are some producers making it to the Broker Opens/Caravans.  I talked to someone recently that did one and of the 5 agents that showed up they had 3 sales in the last year... combined. 

The best we get in our area is lunch. (no gas cards, etc.) Once in a while a wine raffle, but that's it. Broker opens are usually well attended in my market and of course it's the usual players out touring. We all go to see what's new on the market. How can we consider ourselves market experts if we don't know the inventory?? Of course the lunch or brunch OH are always well attended - and people linger a few extra moments. It's a nice way to catch up with other Realtors and an effective way to get the property seen and agents buzzing about it.

Offering lunch or other incentives for a public open house would probably yield different results. The best I do is left over Halloween candy in the fall.

Jessica - There are almost 10,000 homes in my market area...  Even limiting it to 4+ car garages gets us down to a few hundred. 

I regularly attend broker open houses and tours and never expect to get free food or gifts. I believe it is my job to be familiar with the inventory in my market. It is also a professional courtesy to provide honest feedback and constructive criticism to other agents with regards to their listings. On one of the tours I attend regularly every agent completes a feedback sheet including price opinions for evey home on tour. On another, you have to bribe the agents with prize drawings like gas cards, wine, and even cash in order to get them to provide feedback.

Bonny - Thank you for your input.