We have tried to get excited about doing open houses for our listings but seem to always end up disappointed with the results. Our Sellers tend to expect us to do them for their homes but we are finding ourselves more and more explaining that open houses just don't do what they are supposed to. Getting a half dozen people to come on a weekend is a major success but one that usually does not result in Buyers nor is it the turn-out we hope for.
We dutifully advertise the open house in the local newspaper, make attractive flyers describing the home, have snacks and drinks on hand and put out signs. We would hope that this, plus devoting three to four hours on a Saturday or Sunday at the open house, would result in a steady flow of potential Buyers but it rarely does. We have asked fellow Realtors about their open houses and the responses are generally the same roll of the eyes accompanied by the thumbs down sign.
On the brighter side, we find that Realtor/Broker only open houses generate a better turn-out than ones open to the general public. Unfortunately, the Broker opens might only generate a double digit attendance number which is still way short of what we want. We have suggested to our MLS that they try to establish a specific day each month for Broker open houses to get Realtors into thinking of that day as open house day but that idea has not taken hold.
We would welcome ideas from other Realtors on what they have done to produce successful open houses. We don't want to abandon the concept, but the results just don't seem to warrant the effort.
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