The Truth about Open Houses

Throughout my career in Real Estate, I have always been an agent that sat in homes for 2-4 hours on Sunday to do Open Houses. Many times watching videos on my phone, NFL on the homeowners plasma TV, and a handful of times (when I was much younger) w/ a mild hangover from the night before. In the last 2 years, I have been "blanked" (meaning absolutely no one showed up) more times than I have remembered in the past. However, in the last year I have sold 3 homes from Open Houses. This is actually not consistent w/ the National Association of Realtors' statistics. According to NAR, only 1% of homes are sold by conducting public open houses. Realtors use them as more of a prospecting tool then a way to sell the home. It is not uncommon for a listing agent to pass on the job of hosting an open house to a new agent. For new Realtors, open houses present a great opportunity to meet prospects who are in the market for a home. When parties come through the open house, the Realtor has them put down their information on a sign in sheet. In addition to being a security measure, this list allows the Realtor to follow up with them and help them in their home search. So, although many experienced agents don't do them--I'm still a open house supporter and do them. I actually did one today and had an excellent turnout--2 really good prospects for the house that I was holding open.

I think the amount of people looking for homes on the Internet has skyrocketed and that must have something to do with my low open house attendance. Many buyers that I have recently worked with have actively been looking on talktotucker.com or mibor.com long before visiting an open house or even meeting with an agent. Some buyer clients have avoided open houses and opted for scheduling appointment w/ me just to avoid the agent trying to get all of their information. Weather, time of day, location, and neighborhood features are all factors in a successful Open House. Internet Marketing is my ideal way of marketing a listing but, open houses have been good to me in the past..so I will keep doing them !