Some real estate agents lead you to believe that Open Houses will sell your home. If they don’t bring it up in their listing presentation as part of their value proposition, you will most assuredly bring it up, and even demand open houses, because, well, “that’s what real estate agents do”.
The Open House is a great opportunity for your neighbors, who haven’t been welcomed into your home during the years you have lived there, to inspect your house and your your stuff and see what you are really all about. Or for those folks who just want to see what a house like yours looks like inside. Open house visitors, unless accompanied or directly sent by an agent, are un-screened, and often unqualified to buy.
Even real estate agents themselves admitted to the ineffectiveness of open houses in this reader poll in the REALTOR® Magazine, online version. When asked “What percentage of your closed sales do you attribute to open houses?” the response was:
Poll results as of 4/27/10
Yes, 84% of respondents say that open houses result in less than 10% of closed sales. Yet real estate agents spend their weekends hanging out at their listings, or if they don’t have listings, they beg to sit in the listings of those agents who do. WHY? Because there is a perception among real estate agents that the open house IS an effective way to pick up buyers – not necessarily buyers for the home you are holding open, but motivated buyers who are out shopping and don’t yet have an agent.
Of course, if a buyer shows up who wants your house, the goldmine for an agent is to use the open house to “double-side” a deal. Have you talked to your agent about his/her allegiances should they deliver a buyer? Are you comfortable with your agent representing both you AND the buyer in this complicated and often emotional transaction?
I fall into the the 84% of agents who don’t think open houses are effective. There are certainly better ways to market homes in our web 2.0 world, and there are plenty of good agents out there screening your home for their well-qualified clients through the MLS and other internet outlets. In most cases I am quite uncomfortable with dual-agency (no matter what it may be called in your jurisdiction).  So that’s this agent’s opinion. What’s yours?
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A more relevant question might be: “How many houses you held open to benefit your seller actually resulted in a sale for THAT house?”
Yes, that would have made a much more interesting NAR poll, Jim. Home sellers don't get to see how eager new agents are to do open houses for others, and that is one of the things you see in new agent training a lot: :hold open houses to get buyers.” And for the most part sellers don't review what their agent is doing while the open house is going on.
A more relevant question might be: “How many houses you held open to benefit your seller actually resulted in a sale for THAT house?”
Yes, that would have made a much more interesting NAR poll, Jim. Home sellers don’t get to see how eager new agents are to do open houses for others, and that is one of the things you see in new agent training a lot: :hold open houses to get buyers.” And for the most part sellers don’t review what their agent is doing while the open house is going on.
A more relevant question might be: “How many houses you held open to benefit your seller actually resulted in a sale for THAT house?”
Yes, that would have made a much more interesting NAR poll, Jim. Home sellers don't get to see how eager new agents are to do open houses for others, and that is one of the things you see in new agent training a lot: :hold open houses to get buyers.” And for the most part sellers don't review what their agent is doing while the open house is going on.