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My realtor has never mentioned a Caravan. When I first moved to Florida the realtor we were using as a buyer told us how her office would do a Caravan every Wednesday... but she said they would just drive around to new listings and did not say they actually all went through the house. That is very interesting.
My realtor has done several "open houses" lately and is finding them to be a big flop. Sitting in an empty house for a couple of hours and nobody shows up. In my case that would not be the case. We have dogs and do not have a place we can just "go away and take them", there are 5 !! So the dogs will be here, but kept in the back yard, if anyone shows up. We are planning an open house for one of the two weekends after Thanksgiving.
The agents are in their own cars, following each other around from place to place. They meet at someone's office, go over the list of homes they will see, share whatever the latest info is that is going on in the industry, drink coffee and eat dougnuts and off they go..following each other. Broker's opens are when there are homes that are open to brokers only and it's a hit or miss if they will come to your home vs another.
Actually, it's different in different markets. In the intown areas of Atlanta, "caravan" is every Tuesday and it is synonymous with "broker's open house." Agents advertise in the MLS (as well as direct advertising to other offices) that their listing will be on caravan. Some brokerages actually do the traditional caravan thing where a bunch of agents pile into cars and follow each other around to different listings while other offices are less organized and individual agents take off in their own cars (if they want to) to see listings in their own neighborhood(s) or listings they think might match a buyer they're working with.
The agent holding the caravan typically offers either food (sometimes very elaborate catered affairs, sometimes just cookies, generally depending on the price of the home) or freebies (free gas cards, cash drawings, etc.) to induce other agents to attend.
Although it's always conceivable that an agent attending the caravan might possibly have a buyer for whom the listing would fit, the biggest reason that agents (at least here) have caravans is to get feedback from other agents about the condition of the house, it's saleability and any major objections, and pricing.
Caravan is a major activity for agents, but only in certain neighborhoods. Even in densely populated intown Atlanta there are only certain neighborhoods where it makes sense to have a house on caravan. The neighborhoods where it works well enough to make it worth the time and expense are those that have multiple listings PLUS nearby real estate offices. Agents will not drive a long way to go to a caravan and they need to be able to see a number of properties in the same small window of time.
So, for anyone whose agent is telling them that they don't do caravans and/or broker open houses, it's entirely possible that it really is not an activity that happens in your market. I know some brokerages out in the suburban markets in Atlanta do caravan but they do a rotating system where they divide their much-larger market into quadrants and will head off to one quandrant each week so it takes them a month to see new listings in their entire market. And some of these offices use their caravan day to just see new construction since that's what predominates in their markets. So it's different everywhere.
This morning my agent brought the other agents from other brokers through this morning.First thing they were VERY courteous and made sure they didn't make a mess. I was watching the group.Because the agents for the RE company here in the Jax area were like a stampeded.Back to the house,I stayed outside.The feedback on the house was great.They asked if I lived alone and were very surprized to hear its my wife and two boys and me.The house they looked at before ours had children and looked like a bomb had been deployed.One agent was on the phone calling a buyer he has to set up a showing.He was wondering why the house didn't show up on a search.His buyer is looking for a place with 1 plus acre and a big garage.I have a 1000sq ft garage.So a positive morning.Talked with my agent to double check how the house is on the MLS.So its picked up better on searches.And nothing negitive on the asking price.But will wait for the written feedback.So some good can come from caravans.Was it here I read that some don't like caravans.Thanks for listening to my ramble
Congratulations. Sounds like a lot of progress and potential. However, the above (bolded/underlined) would be a concern of mine. I would check into and stay on top of this aspect. Good luck.
Yes ENAJ that was first on the list of things done to correct how our house showes up on searches.We had a interesting event happen.Its the only way I know how to discribe it.A agent shoed the house this past weekend to a couple looking for there son.From what I was told there was some sort of disagreement between the people looking and the agent.So the folks got into there vehicle and when backing up floored the SUV they where driving spinning there tires and turning around in my side yard.Then once in drive nailed it again out the drive.Leaving 2 long curved tire spin marks,dug up grass marks in my yard.Asked my agent about it.Was told the showing agent gave her some short nonanswer answer.A little bit of creative landscaping and thing are fine.I could write a book about this whole ordeal.But still trying to be postive.But have lost faith in the system.
I would be angry about that too, I would contact the office where that agent came from if I were you. Or you could have your agent do it... damaging property on a home that you are showing is not something that should be tolerated. I don't care how angry someone is, if they drive over my lawn they're going to hear something from me!
Is there a website where I can find out who is doing caravans in the Metro Atlanta area and when? I have several agents that want to go on a caravan but I have no idea where to look. Help!! Thanks.
There was thread on this a couple of days ago about foreclosure bus tours and most agents said they thought it was a good idea. If it is forclosures or not getting traffic through your house is always a good idea, the more exposure the better.
Is there a website where I can find out who is doing caravans in the Metro Atlanta area and when? I have several agents that want to go on a caravan but I have no idea where to look. Help!! Thanks.
Broker Tours are listed in the MLS in my area. The concept of caravans, as described here, does not exist. Perhaps this is the case in your area, too.
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