OPEN HOUSES DON’T SELL HOUSES!

This one is a controversial topic and always open for debate in our industry, whether it be at the monthly office meeting or when meeting home sellers. More often than not, sellers “question” how effective open houses really are to the overall promotion of the home and to having a successful sale. Homeowners sometimes express concern about having the annoying “nosy” neighbours come by and people who are just curious “lookers” who happen to be driving by or have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon. So here is my honest opinion: Open houses don’t sell houses. There I said it!… and I am going to tell you why.

You can promote the heck out of an open house and use the most ingenious tactics to entice people to show up, but unless you’ve got the ”right people there it’s all useless.”  An Open house is unfortunately an “Open Door policy” to everyone and anyone that wants to view the home. As an agent, besides being able to properly I.D. people at the door and having them sign the guest registry, I am not properly able to determine their true “Buyer Worthiness”.  Therefore, am I really doing the homeowner any favours? Sure, asking questions helps to determine the motivation of open house guests but as we all know people can and will lie. I have done my share of open houses where neighbours posing as “buyers” came in to get the full scoop on the house because they were listing theirs in a couple of days. I have also had my share of “looky loos” who come in either liking everything in the home or being designer critics.

I have always said that if someone is actively looking for a home and fully qualified to do so they will hire a Realtor. Why wouldn’t they? You wouldn’t buy a home without a lawyer right? So, why would spend thousands of dollars on a house and not get proper representation? Also, “unrepresented” buyers looking for a deal will make a proper appointment for a private viewing with the listing agent if they are truly interested in the home and will be willing to disclose personal information if they are qualified to buy.

So in the end, what service does an Open house do the marketing of the home?

I truly believe in Agent Open houses, because Realtors are the ones that make real estate move. Realtors are the ones that qualify buyers and can give positive and professional feedback as to the overall pricing and presentation of a property. Having an Agent Open house is a great idea as soon as the house is listed for sale. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the Public Open Houses. Its no surprise that listing agents are often scouting the office roster for rookie and part-time agents to host their open house.

Want the “insider scoop?” The truth is that public open houses are a way for an agent to self-promote in the neighbourhood and “potentially” get future prospects. I could think of more effective ways of doing this than wasting mine and the sellers time on a weekend afternoon. I would rather spend more time, marketing dollars and efforts on marketing the seller’s home to qualified buyers than creating hype about an open house that will try to sell to lookers.

What do you think of open houses?

Have you ever had a good/bad open house experience?

 

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