Open houses in my opinion have to be the biggest smoke and mirrors illusion in real estate. About 80% of my listing clients at first think that open houses are the ticket to selling their home until I explain to them that less than 2% of homes are sold to someone that first viewed the home for the first time at an open house. I add...
•· Most buyers today have seen pictures on-line and if they are qualified to purchase will have an agent show them the home when they can actually write an offer. So, why would you leave your home on a Sunday afternoon if it is not necessary?
Maybe before the Internet and colored pictures open houses were an effective means to attract more serious buyers for the seller's benefit, but as most know today open houses are more for marketing the agent and attracting unrepresented buyers.
•· Local neighbors see all the hoopla and extra signs lining the street entrance on Saturday and Sunday and think the open house sign is actually selling the house. In my opinion it is a smoke and mirror sign to attract their attention to an illusion. Balloons really add to the trick!
If the above is not enough to convince them not to insist on an open house I go into how much of a safety issue it can be to open the house up to anyone passing by and what people could be doing in their home. I ask ....
•· Do you know that people have been known to go through the owner's medicine cabinets, cloths and food pantries not to mention other private areas of the home because they cannot always be supervised?
•· Do you want to have a public rest room at your home for two hours? What are they really doing while they are behind the closed door? Did they unlock a window to come back to later?
•· What would happen if the agent was assaulted by a stranger on your property?
•· Do you think law enforcement would endorse this as being a safe practice?
In the unusual event that a seller is still insistent on having open houses as part of the listing agreement I ask them to instruct me on how they would want me to manage the open house.
•· 99.9% come to the realization that the risk is not work the gain when they think serious about the potential outcomes.
Be safe and do what you think is best.
Wendell Hodge
"Caring for all your real estate needs every step of the way"
Karen and Wendell Hodge
Greensboro NC Real Estate Agents with REMAX of Greensboro
www.YourTriadRealEstateAgent.com/
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You have made some valid points. Agents in my office have actually sold three homes since January to buyers who wandered in on Sunday afternoon. Amazing!
I did qualify that sales can happen sometimes. If there were no open houses buyers would have to come to the office or call for an appointment. It would all average out in the end. How many open houses since Jan did it take to pull in the three sales?