Dave,
Do open houses really benefit sellers? Our home has been on the market for a few months and we’ve had four open houses per our realtor’s advice and still no offer! We understand that we should be as accommodating as possible if we want to get our home sold, but it’s a lot of work planning a day away from home with our three young children so an open house can happen. Our realtor says each open house has had a lot of traffic, but just no luck on an offer! We’re starting to wonder if open houses really work to sell homes or they’re just a way for neighbors to come check out our home and compare it to theirs!
Brittany, Grand Junction
Brittany,
The age-old real estate question, do open houses really work? I hear this question at virtually every appointment I go on and this is what I believe to be true about open houses. I can relate to what you have already experienced and statistically speaking, open houses are not effective at selling houses. A number somewhere in the vicinity of 4% (National Association of Realtors 2022) of homes sold are sold as a result of an open house and worse yet, only 3% of buyers even attend open houses. (homego.com January 2023) If you are one of the 4% they are referring to awesome, but if you are one of the 96% they are far less awesome and quickly become very disappointing and frustrating! In my opinion, 4% is far too low to make it a staple of any “true” or valuable marketing plan. I understand having an open house every once in a while, however, they certainly should NOT be the backbone of any marketing plan that you should take seriously. The numbers prove they are not very effective.
I do not believe an open house is a necessary tool for selling homes. Where open houses are effective is at new construction neighborhoods where you have the opportunity to sell other similar homes on different lots with options and upgrades. New construction open houses do produce solid prospects and solid results. For pre-existing homes, a solid and consistent marketing plan is far more efficient and far more productive than having you and your family displaced every Sunday afternoon so your agent can look busy and meet new clients. With the proliferation of the internet and the amount of information at our fingertips the usefulness of the traditional open house is not what it used to be. Many homes now have virtual tours which allow potential buyers the option to “walk thru” your home at their convenience and many choose to do this as their initial research they do in regards to your home. These new technologies have taken the need out of folks having to attend an open house to get the feel for your home. I would not worry one bit about missing out on the Sunday open house. For all the traditionalists please note that I am not saying it will not work, just saying that it will not work very often. Who goes fishing in a lake with only 4 fish?…..only those who have no better option. Hope this helps.