Should You Have An Open House?
When selling a home, it has long been customary to have an open house on Sunday. The idea is a sound one. People are out driving around looking for a house to buy. They might see your house and end up buying it.
The fact is that less than 2% of home sales are the result of an open house! So why would Realtors want to spend every Sunday having an open house? Is it because they think they are going to find the buyer for your house by holding it open? No!!! They are relatively sure that the chances are slim that the buyer will be found during an open house.
An open house is an excellent way for Realtors to prospect for new buyers to work with. The overwhelming majority of buyers walking through an open house will not be interested in that house. Should the Realtor just let that buyer walk? Wouldn't that be a waste of the Realtor's time? That is a person looking for a house to buy. So, the Realtor will try to convert them into a new customer.
So, as a seller....is an open house a good way to market your home? Probably not! With so many people using the internet to research homes for sale, open houses are becoming a thing of the past. Buyers can now see virtual tours and lots of photos of homes for sale without even leaving home. Then, when they find one that looks like what they want, they can go see it.
A recent study by the National Association of Realtors has shown that almost 80% of home buyers now start their search on the internet. Maybe the best place to hold your open house now is on the internet! A 24 hour a day open house.