Linda,
Statistically, open houses only generate 1-2% of home sales in any given year. That is the main reason many veteran agents prefer not to do them. I would much rather spend that time with my family. However, when I was a new agent I held open alot of houses but only because it is a great way for agents to find potential buyers. I did sell a property at an open house once but the buyers had already seen it before. The open house was essentially their second viewing.

Linda, when I list a property I ask the seller how he feels about open houses. If he wants me to do an open house, I will do one. Many of my sellers will not allow me to do an open house. In my area traditional open houses rarely effect a sale. Even with extensive advertising and personal invitations, we get very little traffic.

That may have something to do with the rural nature of my area. It is very rare to have more than 1 house for sale in a particular neighborhood, so potential buyers ride all over the world to get to an open house and sometimes get there just after the open is over. Frustrating!

I prefer doing a Realtor Open House as soon as possible after the listing is signed, and my sellers love my doing them. Instead of opening the house (traditionally) to whoever wants to stroll in, I plan a weekday open just for Realtors. I try to schedule around their sales meeting days, and invite them to have lunch at the house after their meeting is over. I've gotten the reputation for being a pretty good cook, so I get lots of Realtors to attend. I do not scrimp on food. Lasagna sometimes, Dumplings, Vegetable-Beef Soup if it's cold. They know they'll get a good meal. While they are there I ask them to fill out a questionaire about the house - priced right? what's the best feature? what's the worst feature? Then I ask them to put the price they think the house will finally sell for on their business cards and drop them in a fish bowl. I draw one card out for a $25 gift card, but in addition, I can go over those cards and questionaires with my seller when the open is over. It's effective, too, when the agents talk over lunch about my house and offer suggestions. More than once an agent has said, "Can I show the house tomorrow at 2?"

I also do "Open Houses by Appointment Only". I advertise that I am available between 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon to show a particular house. The seller gets the extra advertising, I'm close by should a potential buyer want to take a look and I can normally be at the house within 5 minutes.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Linda,
As you can see by the answers below yes we still do open house events. Of course as some of the other answers point out that does not mean it will help sell the home. I try to plan my open houses around many factors. One of which is the web traffic on the listing. If there is alot of attention but not many showings there may some shy buyers that are on the fence. Also I even look at the weather. A nice sunny weekend is best. Then think of whether this should be a broker open house or a buyer open house. There is one thought about serving refreshments or some thing else to entice them like a drawing for a gift card. I generally do not do these "giveaways".

There are many different approaches to Open Houses. Doing a progressive deal with other realtor's in the neighborhood is also a good draw. That way you can also maximize the marketing.

hope this helps,

It really does depend on the area you are in, the location of the house, and the trend for the real estate community. I think most times it is to propitiate the seller and give exposure to the agent and company. Most likely, the buyers attending will not buy THAT house. If the house has recently been staged or decorated, it would be more beneficial to invite the local Realtors for hopefully, a second look.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina is primarily a resort area, so open houses usually do not bring much attendance.

I did do an open house in conjunction with another realtor who had a listing in the neighborhood. We did this on a Parade of Homes weekend and had a door prize(I think it was a gas card) We got a ton of people,but not a single buyer. You can offer incentives to get people in,but you can't get them to buy. Most people are doing their looking on the Internet. The number of open houses in this area has dwindled down to almost nothing.

Yes, Realtors still do open houses. Though that doesn't mean they do an open house correctly, or that an open house done incorrectly will bring perspective buyers.

An open house in and of itself is a waste of time, both for the seller and the Realtor. There, I said it. The real problem is that there are too many open houses being done incorrectly, and thus they loose their effectiveness with the buying public. Your job as a professional Realtor is to make sure you do an Open House the correct way and that you create a marketing plan for the open house that separates it from rest.

There are a number of resources for learning how to do an open house the right way and how to be creative so I'm not going to bore you with re-hashing these details. Most are common sense. So why don't more agents to open houses the right way...because like anything, doing something the right way is not easy and takes more time. Mainly preparation and research about the property itself and who is likely to be interested in THAT house and making sure that group of potential buyers (not every buyer) knows about the open house.

I said I wouldn't bore you with the details, but here are just a couple of things to consider:
1) Do the research, what are you selling, who is likely to buy it.

2) Get the word out to your "likely" buyer market and other firms that may represent them.

2) Instead of just an open house, think about doing an open neighborhood. More than likely you are not the only house for sale in that neighborhood or area. My firm partners with other agents in our firm or even other agents of other firms to do Neighborhood Open Houses. The more the merrier.

4) Make a "Call to Action" plan. Think about working with the seller to offer some type of time based incentive to add to the Open House, such as an offer to cover up to $xxx dollars in closing cost for anyone who visits, or have a mortgage or other partner participate with you and offer some special deal for the open house visitors.

Ok that's all for know. Soap box is now open again.

Open houses are pretty much a thing of the past here in my area for a lot of the reasons Edith mentioned. it is too hard to compete with sunday football etc. My experience as of late (and that of other agents I have talked to)is that i mostly get nosy neighbors who just want to snoop around. however,I would never refuse to do one if the seller requested it,even though I think they are non productive in these days of the internet.

Hi Linda, my first question to you is Did your Realtor not give you an explanation? Why Not?
that should have been your first question and the explanation by the Realtor should have cleared it up.

Sunday open houses in my personal experience seldom lead to contract...... most buyers still at the end, even if they are checking out Sunday open houses, connect with an experienced Realtor, their buyers agent for guidance , cma's before making an offer etc.

I agree that the location of your property may have something to do with it, you may have a very busy Realtor who cannot afford the time, your Realtor can answer only those questions.

Also remember more often than not, during a Sunday open house, your listing agent, your Realtor may pick up new clients, buyers who potentially are just roaming and looking without having connected with a Realtor yet and your Listing agent can pick up new clients, if your home is too small too big wrong price etc.

I always do a few Sunday open houses, and depending on traffic I discuss the validity with my sellers.
Does your Realtor have open houses for broker tours, i.e. during the week when all Realtors of the area can preview your home? And what other promotions does your Realtor do, internet, websites, fliers to the real estate community, reverse prospecting etc. Your Realtor may be doing a lot of other things that are more effective in his or her views and experience.
Please ask your Realtor!
Hope this helps you a bit!
Edith YourChicagoConnection

Linda,

The reality is "open houses" should be treated as a very important part of a homes marketing plan. Selling anything is all about visibility. If no one knows you have something for sale it is very unlikely it will be sold. Conversely, the more people that knlw about it the better your chances of selling.

There may be two considerations worth mentioning. First the location and visibility of a home is a key factor in open house activity. If you are in a visible location with great curb appeal you will likely recieve activity. Hoewver, if you are tucked away in a remote location the battle becomes more difficult.

We find most open house traffic is from people that stumble upon the event not from advertising and planning. Is it possible your homes location can be the turn off for the agent?

Additionally, you just amy be dealing with an individual that is short on motivation. If this is the case, the decision is yours...............

Good luck

A Realtor refusing to do Open Houses just because they say it doesn’t work might not be in a Seller's best interest. As a Realtor, I assess each home and family situation to come up with an Open House plan that will work for my Sellers.
Do you live in a high demand neighborhood with lots of drive by traffic? Will families be passing by on their way home from church or on their way to restaurants and shops? Is your home priced correctly for the neighborhood?
If you can answer yes to these questions, an Open House may be an effective marketing tool for your home. Potential buyers who like specific areas will stop to see what is available. Remember, if the home is well priced, I have seen Buyers write offers on the spot.
However, if your home is well off the beaten path or you were the only one in the development to add all of the upgrades, Open Houses might not be successful. Also, Buyers won't follow more than 3-4 directional arrows and travel more than ½ a mile out of their way.
In the Outer Banks of NC, we have a lot of second homeowners. Many of them are friendly, interesting and full of questions. So an Open House is usually a fun and informative afternoon. Especially, if you just throttle back, take it easy, and enjoy the people you meet.
However, a better use of your Realtor's time is to MOTIVATE the entire real estate community (other Realtors in the area) to bring their qualified buyers to your house! This is productive marketing and will get your home sold quickly and for the most money possible in today's Buyers’ market.
When you are ready for a professional real estate consultant to advise you AND sell your house then visit http://www.nagsheadhomes.com/ I use many marketing systems together to get your home sold quickly and for the most money possible in today's market.

Hugh " Scooter" Willey
Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty
252-489-8491