Many times I meet with people who want to sell their homes and everyone has an opinion about how to do that. One of the top things that comes up is the subject of Open Houses. The house selling public generally has ONE view of open houses, the house buying public has a view of them and the professionals that sell houses generally have another view.
Before I get into the ups and downs of open houses, I want to put it out there that I am NOT against open houses...but I DO think it's a case by case basis as to whether they are beneficial.
Let's talk statistics first. The latest statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) says that less than 1% of open houses result in the sale of the house that is held open. That's pretty low success rate for open houses...if the goal is to sell the house that is held open.
So the first thing from a seller's perspective on open houses should be: DO OPEN HOUSES SELL HOUSES? The statistics show that they do sell homes, but at a very low rate.
The next thing the home seller should consider is the upside and downside to the open house.
Here are the PROS:
1. Exposure for your home--people will come through and see your home. This may be more or less traffic than you get from normal showings.
2. Feedback from those that visit. You will often get unguarded and many times unsolicited feedback on the homes showing appeal, features, location and pricing. It can be very useful to hear that for continued marketing of the home.
3. You will SEE actual activity. Much of what goes on that sells a home goes on "behind the scenes" so to speak and you may not actually see your agent "selling" your house. This is one highly VISIBLE activity that you can point to and say "we did open houses".
Here are the negatives to open houses:
1. Safety concerns--sometimes open houses are an invitation to criminals who "scope out" the property, and with opportunity (such as when more people come into the house than the agent can keep together) they may steal valuable such as jewlery or perscription medications. They can also leave windows unlocked for return later.
2. Nosey Neighbors--many times open houses are visited only by lookee-loos. You know the neighbor that keeps up on everyone's coming and goings and they are there to see where you live, not necessarily because they want to BUY a home.
3. Those that come through and really WANT to buy a home are many times unqualified to do so. When MOST buyers are serious about buying a home, they are using an agent that has access to personal appointments to see homes and they have already gone through the pre-approval process.
4. Inconvenience--you're kicked out of your home on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for 2-4 hours while the agent sits in your home and people may or may not show up.
That pretty much sums up open houses. It's not that they are bad, but with the advent of a much more educated consumer (through the internet mostly where 86% of all home buyers start their search) , they are much less effective than they were even 10 years ago.
Call us now if you are looking to buy or sell a home in the West Houston, Katy and Cypress area!
We are the Katy and Cypress area specialists!
Call the team with any questions: 281-935-7152 or our Toll Free information line (anytime):
Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the topic:
Short Sale Information Code: 7002
$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004
List of our services guarantees: 7003
Comments(1)