Why I No Longer Do Open Houses When Selling a House - Market Tuesday EP_10


Many times you see new homes come on to the market on the MLS and you often see Open House Saturday or Sunday on the Lawn of the new listing. It's not that uncommon with the exception of during the lockdowns of the Covid 19 Pandemic. 


I find that they use to be a great tool to market a new home for sale, it use to bring many people through the doors to see what the listing had to offer.


So you ask, why am I not doing them anymore? It's a very good question and I will tell you why. In the past viable buyers had walked through the door, as time goes on and things change, this practice has as well. Most people today have their own agents and access to the internet, when they see a home that comes to market they book an appointment through their real estate agent. 


So then who's coming to see the home during the open house? Well mostly people in the area that are thinking of selling or renovating their home and want to use this home for comparison purposes without having to bother their real estate agent. This benefits the agent hosting the open house as we pick up leads for possible future buyers and sellers but has very little to no impact for the home sellers other than dragging dirt from outside and disrupting their day. I am not saying that it's always a waste of time, every so often you can truly get a serious buyer through the doors but it's so rare and the ones that are serious will book through the office to see it anyway if there's no open house. 


I believe that as an agent there's much more effective activities that I can do to market your home that will deliver better returns than an open house, so I would personally rather put my efforts into those strategies instead.


Do not misunderstand me if a home owner really wants me to do the open house I won't say I won't, I will I just don't think it's effective as it once was.


What do you think about this? Do you think Open Houses Still Make An Impact on a Home Sale?