We do open houses for all of our new
listings. Just to be clear open houses are optional and always have been. The purpose of open houses is certainly to show your home to the general public who can't get to a house during the work week. It also is
certainly a good opportunity for the potential buyer who doesn't have an agent who can show them the property.
We advertise our open house dates on the MLS, our Right at Home Realty brokerage website, my website, various websites, and social media as
well. Signs are posted at
intersections leading to the
property. Invitations are
handed out to the immediate
area residents. With the right
property and scenario, I will
do a neighbours-only open
house. To be honest, it's there for neighbours to get an early jump on viewing the property before the weekend to let any other people know about it. Keyword...early.​​​
The hidden truth is that quite frankly open houses are good for the agent as well. It gives me the opportunity to meet other possible sellers (your neighbours) and meet the potential buyers, whether they want to buy that current listing or not. It's a fact so that is something to consider when opting to have open houses for your property.
Some do but most homes
don't sell via an open house
and that's a fact that needs to
be mentioned. I've already
listed the pros for you the
home seller and me the realtor,
but what are the cons?
It's very simple, a disruption to your lifestyle by having to leave the house every weekend for the open house, keeping the house in pristine condition etc.
What I do is collect the information of visitors that come through your home for security purposes and also follow up with them to get valuable feedback so we know what people think about your property.
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After every open house, I also send an email and text message to the information left with an open house website link.
​
The home seller gets a follow-up with feedback given to them as well. This is very very important feedback to find out what people think about their home and to adjust
accordingly whether it be pricing
or home decor etc. etc.
​
After seeing many homes during
the afternoon, it's easy for buyers
to confuse one home with the
other so the email and text is a
gentle reminder (with a link like
the sample below included) about
your property and why they
should consider it.
