Holding Open Houses for Real Estate Buyers and Sellers. Lisa Hill's Real Estate Blog |
I recently read a blog post from a REALTOR® (yes, it was a REALTOR®... IE: Member of their local Association of REALTORS® and subscriber of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics... not only a real estate agent) who absolutely refuses to do open houses, no matter what. Now this particular agent was very well educated on the statistics of how buyers find the real estate properties they buy. And many good reasons were given as to why open houses were not productive.
Statistics given, which were obtained from the National Association of REALTORS® were...
- Approximately 90% of all real estate buyers now begin their real estate search online.
- 36% of those buyers actually find the house they eventually buy, from their online data.
- 36% find their home from their REALTOR® (Click here for differences between REALTORS® and real estate agents) most likely through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and their own knowledge of current market listings.
- 12% will find their home from a yard sign.
- 6% will find the house they purchase from a friend, neighbor or relative.
- 5% will purchase new construction from the builder and/or builder's agents
- 5% is unreported.
Now I don't begrudge this particular agent for refusing to hold open houses. Based on the data he received, there seems to be no apparent reason to do so. But what about the 5% that was not accounted for? And what about the houses that I personally have sold, directly from an open house? And what about the fact that our Code of Ethics requires us to work FOR our clients. It's not about what we want. It's about what the client wants.
Of course, we should present this data from the NAR to the seller, and let them decide. But as any real estate professional knows, real estate statistics are "hyper-local" IE: even from city-to-city, the data may not be accurate It needs to be examined from neighborhood-to-neighborhood, and sometimes even from street-to-street! Therefore, a nationwide, general report is not completely accurate. It's a display of wide-scale averages.
So in summary, as a REALTOR®, I will educate my clients; we will discuss their options; and together, we will decide what is best for them. As I read another post that spawned from the one stating the absolute refusal to hold any open houses, Laurie Mindnich, who sells real estate in Long Island, made some good points as well.
Perhaps this is another example of hyper-local real estate. In our area, open houses are not common, but they CAN be effective. And until the level of effectiveness is at zero, I'll do open houses for my sellers.... not to mention the leads I get from a couple of hours spent catching up on paperwork, writing a blog, or whatever productive way I can find to spend my time while sitting at an open house."
And my comment on Laurie's post: "....we should do whatever our clients want us to do. THEY are who WE work for! And sometimes that means pointing out all the reasons why something they don't want, may actually be in their best interests!"
Are you a real estate buyer or a real estate seller in the Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet or anywhere in the East Volusia County area? Make a Smart Choice today, and contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs!
www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com
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