Had a good friend with your same last name in the Army, I do not think it was you, but to enlighten you, I many time let my co workers do the open house for me, I do not work well with first time buyers , they bore me. I usually target the more mature and savy buyers with more experience and less suspicious. The more they really know the better for me. An educated consumer is my best client, no one that is thinking that I will rip them off, you know the kind

Hi Angela - for some reason trulia reactivates these old questions from time to time...........not sure why.. Believe me, I have answered a few of them in my time, too.....then I learned to check the date under the queston first!

Hey, this is the venue for input.....old or new!

Sweet dreams
Debbie

Well Debbie...I must say...you are far brighter than I today! ;) I didn't even catch that. It just caught my eye and I felt obliged to dispel the conspiracy theory! MEL---I hope you sold by now! Thanks for the catch Debbie!

What is interesting is that it resurfaces as "recent" once everyone starts answering again. Maybe someone will find it useful.

Have a great night!

Mel,

Thank you for a great question! They answer is no, it's not a deliberate strategy to keep the seller and buyer using agents within the same company. As a new agent in beautiful Savannah, Georgia, I take every opportunity I can to host open houses for other agents within my company. It allows me the opportunity to gain valuable experience by hosting the event , while meeting potential clients (buyers) if they don't already have an agent they are working with. If a buyer comes through the door and decides they would like for me to represent them, great! I've obtained a new client and the listing agent has just made a sale - we both win. It's common for agents, especially newbies like myself, to host for others.

Derek James Varnadoe, Agent
Ben Farmer Realty
Savannah, Georgia

Angela.........this question was asked in Oct., 2008......Mel has probably long moved on!!!

Okay Mel, I apologize! I just caught on your name that you are a "Buyer and seller" meaning you already have an agent. I answered the question mentally visualizing a person simply on a home search. All the information is true. However, as Heather stated, let them know you have an agent.

If your agent is working effectively for you, then KEEP them! If they are not, then maybe open houses are a great place to meet a hard working, agent.

:) Blessings

Hi Mel! Do not be alarmed! What you have heard so far is great information and mostly true in my experience. I very often host open houses for other listing agents. That is the best way to meet wonderful buyers who seriously want to buy a home. Some are just out looking and really don't know where to start. Some are simply looking, and that's okay too!

When we host an open house in our office, I assure you, we are not in a conspiracy to keep that home sold by our agents. The reality is, out of all the open houses you have attended, did you buy any of them? The answer would ordinarily be "no." But if you don't have a Realtor representing you, the reality is that an agent willing to take the time to host an open house is eager for your business and really wants to be able to help you at your ability and pace.

I also host open houses because it is a great opportunity to meet neighbors who may be interested in selling their homes. How will I meet them if I am not there? It's a win, win. It's a great way to "loiter" in the neighborhood without actually loitering! :)

Enjoy the open houses, and use them to gain ideas and inspiration. If you click with an agent hosting one, consider using them when you are ready to get serious about your home search and purchase. You will most likely be glad you did!

Happy Home Touring!

Hi Mel,
This is quite common. As other people have said, many times real estate agents looking for new business will sit an open house for the listing agent. The listing agent may have multiple listings and therefore other agents, in their office, will host the open house.

You can use a buyers agent of your choice, just make sure you tell the agent at the open house that you already have your own agent.

If you need any additional assistance please feel free to contact me, I cover the Manalapan area.

Thanks,
Heather Daccurso
Weichert Realtors
Office: 732-577-0440
Cell: 732-580-5309

Open houses are often run by agents who are looking to generate business from the open house, not the listing agent. As mentioned earlier, the listing agent cannot be in more than one place at a time, and thus need to make the decision as to which activity will provide them the most benefit. You are not obligated to work with the agent who is sitting an open house - you can select your own agent to represent you on your purchase.

No. This is normal. For example, if you are one of top listing agents with 3 units listing for sale, and many buyers coming to the community want to buy, and you want to hold the open house to make buyers' life much easier, so you want to hold open house of all 3 units. How would you do?

I think you can hold one, and may be ask your colleagues to help open houses on the other two. right? If you ask agents from other brokerage company, I believe they may NOT do you a favor as they may have their hands full showing their buyers as well.

On the other hand, most open hosues seem to annonced at realtor.com and that mostly seen by realtors, so when there is an open houses, most buyers came from realtors' client from other brokerage companies, so what your assumption is not true, but, of course, it may be great if you are the broker.

Think of that you are a broker, and you want to keep the seller and buyer using the agents just with your brokerage company, can you do that? NOT easy! This is matching problem, it is in Computer Science, NP Complete Problem; it takes exponential time to solve without a network.