Do Open Houses Actually Work?

Open House, Open House, Open House. Most sellers want an Open House. The reality is that open houses are just a waste of time. They do not sell houses. The majority of people looking to buy a property work with an agent to help them find the ideal property based on their needs and budgets.

Many agents push for Open Houses to try to get potential new clients as buyers or sellers of real estate. Agents see it as a way of trying to start a relationship with a prospective new client, that's if the person isn't already working with another agent. The majority of people that attend open houses are nosy neighbours and "tire kickers". They are the people that have nothing better to do on a weekend so they go around neighbourhoods looking at properties and dreaming that maybe one day they too would like to live in the area.

Just imagine letting your agent do an Open House and having all these strangers without agents coming into your home, going into all your rooms, looking in all your closets, going through your things and maybe even taking a thing or two. Its impossible for any agent to keep an eye on everyone coming in and see what they are and aren't touching. The best thing for any seller to do is have their agent make scheduled appointments with buyers agents. This way, anyone coming into your home comes with an agent that hopefully knows their client to some degree and can try to ensure that any and all appointments occur without any incidences of problems of theft. 

Most serious buyers are working with an agent and those same buyers are the ones that are most likely to buy a property, not the people coming in from an Open House. Serious buyers have already done their research and know what they're looking for so, they prefer to see a home of interest uninterrupted after dilligent research. Think of it like buying a car, you won't just go to a dealership to walk around the showroom. Rather you research the make and model of prospective vehicles then visit them for test drives in an orderly fashion. The choice is yours whether you'd like to host an open house, but you should choose wisely and ensure that your agent is looking out for your best interest and not theirs. The key to ensure your property sells is to prepare it for sale before it actually goes for sale on the MLS. The better it shows the better the chances of selling, provided it's also priced properly.