Open houses are a real estate tradition. Once your home is for sale, the next step is to set up the open house, right?
The truth is the open house may be in danger of outliving its usefulness. Homebuyers are choosing instead to tour potential homes anonymously online.
Handy, but It Doesn’t Seal the Deal
In the National Association of Realtors 2011 Home Buyers and Sellers Guide, 92% of homebuyers found open houses to be at least somewhat useful in their search for a new home. But that’s compared to 99% who found their real estate agent very or somewhat useful and 97% who found the internet very or somewhat useful.
But as useful as open houses may be in helping buyers find potential homes, only 11% chose to buy a home they found through an open house. Compare that to 75% who found their homes through the internet or through their real estate agent.
Before You Count It Out …
With all that said, open houses still have a place in some markets. If you have an unusual home for example, it may be helpful for buyers to see the property in person without scheduling a showing.
As with any showing, you’ll want to make sure your home is in tip-top shape inside and out for your open house. And make sure you are not present. It’s difficult for buyers to envision the home as theirs if you’re camped out on the couch.
A New Idea
Another option is to hold an agent open house. Instead of opening your home to the public, your real estate agent invites other agents to tour your home in hopes that one or more of those agents will have buyers who are interested in a home like yours.
Sellers choose to do this for two reasons:
- It’s possible that public open houses are more beneficial to listing agents than to the home sellers themselves. Your open house may not attract a serious buyer, but it can attract new clients for the agent.
- Public open houses are potentially dangerous since there is no way to distinguish between a serious buyer, someone who’s just looking, or someone who has bad intentions.