Who likes to do OPEN HOUSES???

Hi,

Good post!! I do like to do open houses also, but I like hosting them better if they are vacant due to the liability of your sellers furnishings. It is a great time to prospect.

          Tinker

My wife and I do open houses, especially in our farm area.  We(I) put out at least 20 Open House signs bringing traffic in from several major intersections.

Because of all the signs that we have out, the perception is that we are the busiest Realtors in the area.

We do occationally pick up a buyer but I guarentee that we get listings in the area due to working the Open Houses.

My husband and I do open houses as well.  It is another way that we show how hard we are working to market and sell our sellers' houses.  They are glad that we do open houses.  We have gotten clients from open houses AND we have even sold the house that we are doing open houses for through someone that visited the open house.  We will continue to do them regularly.

I represent a new community and we open all our specs that are complete every weekend.  People love to come out.  www.tracysoussi.com

Hi Norma, I got to say I too, enjoy doing open houses. From January to June I only missed 2 Sundays. I can bring a good real estate book or magazine and catch up on my reading, I can catch up on phone calls or paperwork while waiting for people to show up. And if someone does show up - that makes the Open House perfect!

I like to do Opens as well.  I have an air card in my lap top and can show walk ins other properties they may like on the MLS.  I have left open houses to show properties (I have a partner who stays).  I have many clients from doing opens.  I prefer to do them in high end gated communities.  Safer that way.

Hi Norma, I sold a home that I was holding open one beautiful Sunday afternoon.  The folks come with the newspaper advertisement in hand and when they walked in the front door they said "We love it and want to buy it today!" Boy was I suprised! So sometimes . . .  Open Houses can be beneficial to you and the sellers.

Norma--anytime you want a lender at an open house, just let me know.  I would be more than happy to attend!

Norma, for starters I have to admit that open houses are not very effective in selling properties, but that does not mean I will not do them. I do them for all of our listings, and will continue to, because I think that can open doors and opportunities.

Hey Norma,  I have a couple of posts about Open Houses.  I'm new too, so working Open Houses is really something I look forward to.  Like you, I feel it does give us newer agents a chance to meet potential buyers or just people in general that we can talk real estate to.  It's good practice.  Also, checking out the different homes is fun too because I love interior decorating so I either love what the owners have done or redo the decor in my mind while I'm waiting for visitors!!  Good luck and have fun with those darn balloons (the one part of Open Houses I'm not too thrilled with). 

Lately I use the in between time at open houses to study for my brokers exam.  And if I pick up a new client here in there great.

I would like them much better if they were productive and led to sales on the homes we were marketing.

Open houses are good, great way to meet people and let them know your out there.

My client base grows faster when I do open houses.  I can really tell the difference when I stop doing them!

I have done sooooooooooo many of these things and I have never gotten anywhere with it.  I avoid doing them.  Waste of time for ME.

I actually like doing open houses...but I go at them with a different attitude. I use them to catch up on paperwork, do mailings, write Thank You notes, and blog...the only difference is I do it in someone else's house. Rarely do I even come close to selling a house, but I do make contacts. One PLUS I have noticed about advertising an Open House, is it sometimes puts a degree of urgency in another buyer's mind that likes the house and they make an offer BEFORE the open house, to avoid the competition. In my 15 years, I would say that has happened 6 or 8 times.

Dave Culbertson, Broker/Owner, Real Living Home Team, Mount Vernon, OH