Open Houses – do they work?{Comments Off}
Open houses rarely sell the homes that are held open. Mostly because the buyers who attend them are not in buying mode. They are not yet working with a realtor or if they are, their homes are on the market and unsold. For ‘buyers’, attending an open house is the equivalent of window shopping. They’re trying to get a sense of their buying options without talking to a salesperson.
As a real estate agent my primary intention is to sell the house I’m holding open; but realistically, the open house is successful if I pick up a future buyer/seller and make my sellers feel I’m doing everything I can to market their property. The one open house I sold last year, a realtor had sent their buyer( whose house she had listed) thru the open. When their house sold, they purchased my listing. They saw it first on line and then at the open house. The internet is now the primary media for buyers’ initial exposure to properties.
For the agent an open house offers:
- an opportunity for face to face contact with prospective buyers-
- visibility in the neighborhood and town where her listing is located
- enhances her credibility with her sellers.
The homes that benefit most from an open house are:
- homes on a primary or secondary road ie, high traffic areas;
- homes which do not have great curb appeal but show well.
- homes that have been on the market at least 3 weeks
Did you know that only 2% of houses sell through open houses? I don’t encourage my seller clients hold their houses open in the first few weeks after listing their home. However, open houses are productive for the agent and for certain properties at certain times.
The keys to making an open house work is preparation and publicity.
- Publicity: print ads, notification in the MLS, neighborhood marketing, adequate signage including sign rider on the property the previous week, television ad. Open house flyers should be broadcast the week prior to the open house to other real estate agents and to neighbors.
- Preparation: Property should be groomed and professionally cleaned. Full color professionally prepared brochures should be available. Visitors should sign-in to allow the realtor to follow-up with guests. Refreshments should be available. Information on neighborhood amenities should be available. The realtor should have neighborhood statistics.
I encourage the buyers I’m working with to attend open houses; I also send those buyers lists each week of homes that will be held open in the area they are looking.
Occasionally, the buyers of a home first saw it as an Open House.
I hold listings open because I want my sellers to know that I pursue all means of getting their home sold for top dollar in the least amount of time. In marketing, one never can be precisely sure which marketing efforts will be effective. So, the best methodology is to use a comprehensive marketing plan – print advertising, open houses, signage, direct mail, and web placement.
Invariably, securing a viable purchase offer is most easily achieved by preparing the home for market and proper pricing. What sells a home is: Location, Features, Condition and Pricing.
