Are "Open Houses" Dead In Your Area?

In Homer we just do not have open houses... every once in awhile someone will have one... and I have them as events tied into other events ...like the beach condos during shore bird festival.. but that is PR and nothing else... the sellers like them...unitl they dont produce...

Clint: Up until about last year the open house traffice in Spatanburg, SC was great. In fact, I quit doing Call Time and just did open houses. Since the second quarter of 2008 the traffic has fallen off to just about nothing. We don't even get the I'm just looking for decorating ideas people anymore. I don' know if it is the price of gas or the virtual tour or just the public is scared to buy a house.

Clint,

I met with my client yesterday who held their listing open on Sunday and wrote a deal up on Monday with a couple who called into their open house.

So yes definitely open houses work.

I haven't had success with open houses.  There are safety issues for the agent as well as the home owners if they are still living in the house.   We have no control over who comes thru.

I think that open houses are mainly for attracting new buyers.  I personally can't stand doing open houses and would probably rather have my teeth pulled.

Clint,
I was reading your post and comments- it seems like only a few have stated that Open Houses assist them in selling their present listing. It also seems the ones that said they are willing to do the Open houses are the ones that use it as a networking tool. We do video tours that do the work of a open house except that it does one 24 hours/365-plus gives unlimited exposure to the realtor and seller. It is the Open House of the future.

Yes, for several years they have been a waste of time. You sit in a home all afternoon, and maybe, just maybe, a nosey neighbor stops by. Despite the ads, blogs, balloons, signs, etc. buyers just do not turn out like they used to. A large part of this is the fact that they and their agents can easily search for homes that DO meet their requirements from their easy chairs and then set up tours to efficiently see only those homes that interest them. With an open house, the people may like the neighborhood and exterior of the home, but have no idea of the details, prices, restrictions, etc. So even when they do stop by they seldom find what they are looking for. And where do you advertise? I know of almost no buyers who now look in the classifieds for home, or for that matter, agents who use print ads. 99% of my calls now come from all of the internet work I do. I have spent hours building several sites, and now it is paying off. But Open Houses, no way.

Still doing them in seacoast NH

Patricia Aulson/portsmouth nh

Ok I'm back. Just wanted to add a few things. I think the question should be do the open houses work for you - not necessarily in your area. If you asked 10 or more agents near us they would swear the open houses don't work. We say the do and the do - for us. There is only a mere handful of agents that we know around here (if even that) that are doing great with their open houses. As in general - many more are trying to do them around here especially in the last few months it's been crazy! We frequently stop at other agents opens and chat with them and 99% of the time they are just sitting there reading a book or working on the computer complaining nobody showed up.

And yes again - the location is important.

And yes you can sell the house (and others) from an open house. It may not be direct. Once we held an open house and three weeks later somebody calls and says they would like to see the house as their friends who live in the neighborhood were at the open house and said that this house would be perfect for these out of state friends that were moving into the area. They bought the house!

I'll shut up now :) ~Rita

Clint, it depends on where the house is and the price, and they're best for picking up buyers. NAR stat is only 4% of houses sell through an Open House - last time I heard. Most of our sellers are sophisticated and know this and don't want to fool with them.

Sharon

In my experience, OPEN HOUSES are for REALTORS to meet prospective buyers.

I think I mainly do them to appease my sellers, and somehow they need to be given the FACTS that homes RARELY- IF EVER sell as the result of an OPEN HOUSE.

They need to have a CLEAR understanding that we market their homes 24/7 in a far more effective manner through AGENTS, MLS, Signs, and the internet. All PROVEN to sell homes.

Open houses are not doing to well in our area as it once did. I use to sit on an open house on wensdays and it was a good way to pick up leads and sell the open house.