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Open Houses - what's the deal?!

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Vis-Home

Hello all!

I apologize for not posting regularly the past month.  I was on vacation seeing this great nation of ours and unable to post.

Port Aransas, Texas, Washington D.C., Traverse City, MI. whew!  It’s good to be back!

Now, let’s get right into it

According to the NAR (National Association of Realtors), in 1995, 41% of buyers relied on open houses to sell their home. In 2000, that number dropped to 28%. As the market began to heat up in 2003, the number began rising.  In 2005, the last year the NAR made this information available, that number was 51%.

In 2005, 51% of sellers were using open houses, even though they found its effectiveness questionable.
     45% of seller felt open houses “somewhat useful”, while 12% didn’t consider them useful at all.

With this modern reality in mind, you should first consider putting your listing on MLS or realtor.com with some informative and flattering photos or a virtual tour (i.e, PicturePlans).  This marketing effort should be in coordination with an email campaign targeted to other agents. 

Online marketing has changed the game.  Play it right.

So then, why should you hold an open house?

Benefits:
-Meet prospective clients
-Get feedback on the home
-Use the Open House as a part of a comprehensive marketing campaign
-Demonstrate to the seller what a great job you’re doing


More importantly, unless you properly prepare, coordinate and execute the open house, all efforts are for naught.

I will be posting a series of posts detailing the steps and reasons on how to prepare, coordinate and execute the most effective open house.

Do you guys still hold open houses? What kind of success have you had?

 

-E. Kim

 

 

Kris Kombrink ~ The Kombrink Team
RE/MAX Excels - Chicago's Western Suburbs - Geneva, IL

How true!  We stopped doing open houses on a regular basis about 4 or 5 years ago.  We do them now only when a seller insists on one.  We advertise the heck out of it online AND in print and get almost nobody show up...

Oct 18, 2008 02:19 AM