Open Homes are a very useful tool when selling your home. Of course, holding the home open the first weekend it goes on the market is almost automatic except in rare circumstances.

Holding an open after a price decline is very smart as well because price declines usually mean your home is now avialable to a wider market. With internet searches begining to become the main source for listings for home buyers, dropping a price from $975 to $950 can mean that a huge market whose online searches only went to $950 now are seeing your property for the first time and it porbably has piqued their interest. That should be followed by allowing them to see the home over the weekend.

Lastly, new buyers enter into the market at different times so having open homes somewhat frequently is advised, however, not consecutive weekends because it might not be worth the time. Some weekends go slower than others and you would, from a seller's standpoint, rather have people coming through a busy open home than a deserted open home.

Tue Jun 24 2008, 19:56

Here in Center City Philadelphia, we hold open houses for about an hour every other Sunday.

Mon Jun 23 2008, 07:04

Hi Matt:

I typically hold a new listing open Saturday and Sunday the first week on market.
After that I typically hold the home open on a Sunday.
If the property has not sold in the first 2 weeks, I typically hold it open every other week.
Opens are a good way to get maximum traffic to your home.
It makes it easy for other agents to send their clients to your home.

Sun Jun 22 2008, 20:27

Hi ther Matt. It depends on the Broker and agent. But frequent Open Houses is generally a good idea, it is still exposure and some buyers can and will only look at homes on the weekend at Open houses so it's a good idea to leave no rock unturned so to speak.

If you need a really good realtor who will sell your home let me know
Kind Regards
Michael Barron
First Team Real Estate
www.ntustinhomes4sale.com
(714) 552-6817

Fri May 9 2008, 17:38

Chris, broker's opens aren't effective everywhere... here on the north shore, they're great.... but a scan few miles to the south, into the city of Chicago, Realtors stay away from broker's opens in droves (don't really understand why!)

So I'm not saying that any single thing is great for all markets (real estate IS local).

Fri May 9 2008, 16:52

Wow!! I really appreciate all the responses. Thank you so much!

Matt

Fri May 9 2008, 15:36

Elvis,

I suspect from the responses that my real estate market is a bit oddball compared to most (This is not sarcasm by the way). No sarcasm with the King! The Realtors in my area are very anti-open house and cite the lack of success as their reason for not doing them. We definately still have open houses, but a very low percentage.

Ironically, I think that I have only seen 2 broker open houses in the last 3 years. Maybe I am just not paying attention. I even suggested doing one to another Realtor, he looked at me like I was insane and laughed!

Tell me real estate isn't local and I will invite you to Grand Rapids! :)

Fri May 9 2008, 14:55

It generally depends on the sellers and their expectations. If they expect and OH then they will usually have one and sometimes for as long as it is on the market.

Fri May 9 2008, 14:34

Maybe 60% in your area. Here in Chicago in my area I would say that 90% do open houses and the other 10% don't because they are lazy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Utter nonsense.

It's entirely dependent on your agent, and your agreement with your agent. Many agents don't recommend having open houses, because they're disruptive, and aren't ultimately helpful in selling your home. We use an open house as a great tool to help Realtors meet potential new clients, and as such, we often ask newer agents to sit the open houses, where they'll mingle with new buyers.

Occasionally, open houses DO work, so I recommend to my clients, that we do at least one... just in case an "unrepresented buyer" is interested, and they are hesitant to call a Realtor to see it. But I don't recommend frequent or regular open houses, and it has "nothing" to do with "laziness".

I'm more than willing to do them with frequency, they're good for my business, but disruptive to the owner, and not very helpful. Now, BROKER's open houses... THOSE are valuable.

Fri May 9 2008, 12:09

Matt,
Rule of thumb is to have “open house” as soon the listing sign by owner for a period of 4-6 weeks; this will enable agent and owner to see the Market reaction. Moreover, we usually conduct “Broker” tours (Menlo Park is every Tuesday 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.), giving the local Agents chance to see the house and bring their clients.
Open houses should be advertised in local papers and “Open Houses” websites.

Gene

Fri May 9 2008, 12:02

Its optionally. I try to a least have an open house on each house twice a month. They usually last from 2-4 hrs. It all depends on the sellers and scheduling. Sometimes sellers might refuse. Its best to do it when its nice and sunny out.

Fri May 9 2008, 11:15

I agree with answer 4 that it depends on the agent, however typically open houses are a great place to aquire buyer leads for the agent. It usually is not in favor of the seller as very few buyers come from open houses. Compare an open house to an advertisement you run in the paper. How many buyers do you actually sell the property that they called on? I bet maybe 1or 2 in a 100. That's a pretty small stat considering 1 in 4 property showings amount to a sale! So whats the odds of someone walking off the street into your open house and finding the exact floor plan desired, the right kitchen cabinets, view, lot size, etc...being exactly what they want? I'm not saying an open house will not aquire a buyer for the property, however the odds are you will be qualifying a new lead (buyer) at your open house. You will be answering any objections with a positive answer and then of course you will be asking questions of what he or she exactly wants. Some thing that is usually done prior to a showing or to ever meeting. You need to do your discovery work with every client as to not waste precious time as well as your gas spinning your wheels showing properties that may not even interest a buyer because of lack of discovery. I hope this answer helps you in future open houses. I usually do 1 or 2 and be up front with sellers that open houses are to my advantage not the sellers. This is important especially for a busy agent and especially in todays tight market, time and effort is important that its well spent!

Fri May 9 2008, 11:10

Maybe 60% in your area. Here in Chicago in my area I would say that 90% do open houses and the other 10% don't because they are lazy.

Fri May 9 2008, 10:55

Good Question Matt,

I say this because there are many Realtors who don't even do open houses any more. In my area, I would say that 60% of the Realtors don't even do them.

Now, for the ones who do, I find that most just do one in the first couple of weeks that the home is listed. That just seems to be the trend that I am seeing.

Fri May 9 2008, 10:53

Varies from agent to agent. In today's REO heavy market, many agents don't do anything except install a sign. My experience has ben that it all depends on the seller. It's an inconvience for most owners but then there is more exposure to potential buyers. When I do an open house, I am the neighborhood expert with all sales data available for prospective buyers. I don't expect to always find the buyer myself but have found it beneficial for the neighbors as they may have a friend who wants to move into the neighborhood. My success rate is much higher than the writer who has sold 500 homes! I also attract out of area agents who may not have lockbox access.

Fri May 9 2008, 10:48

Typically realtors hold weekend open houses for the public until the home sells. An experienced agent will time the event for maybe two or three times during a month, and report the results to you. Keeping a phone or email list of visitors is extremely important; an agent can contact those visitors after the open house to inform them of important changes in the real estate market and the home in question.

Fri May 9 2008, 10:41

hi Matt- good question. Depends on your agent and on you of course. I hold open houses as frequent as possible until the home sells - you can never have too much exposure when you are trying to sell your home. good luck. mary molinari - coldwell banker

Fri May 9 2008, 10:37