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I had an open house last week, 7 groups people came in including some neighbors per our realtor. I have no idea why our neighbors want to come, bored, nosy? Anyway, no offer so far. My realtor wants to have more open house in the next several weeks. I am wondering if the open house will attract the serious buyers or just window house shopper? When and how often do you have the open houses?
Any time you can get traffic through your home - do it. Neighbors, cousins, whoever. You never know where the lead to your buyer is going to come from, so you should treat every single person that bothers to comes through your door like gold. When you have had your house on the market for a month and you are getting NO lookers, you will be begging the "window shoppers" to come back.
I think open houses had their purpose years ago before you could see and read everything on the internet. Now I think it's more of a Sunday afternoon outing for bored people, a peek for nosy neighbors, and an opportunity for people looking to steal something. We'd never have one again and have not needed one for the last several homes we've sold. Once you get someone serious about the property, the price, and the neighborhood, they can come see the house with their agent.
This.
My realtor called them lookie-loos and refuses to have open houses because all they attract is the neighbors. They generally don't generate an offer. Anyone truly interested will make an appt to see the house.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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No to public open houses, but yes to realtor open houses. I think they may be called realtor caravans? Anyway, my realtor invited other realtors and hosted a little cocktail hour. Worked out great for me as a seller.
The houses I'm selling are vacant, and my Realtor is present of course. Since I'm not living there there is no inconvenience to me. If she wants one or several open houses it's fine with me. Whatever it takes to receive a good offer and get into escrow.
If it helps her pick up more clients then I'm fine with that. I have a good working relationship with my Realtor and she has been invaluable to me, not only for her professional skills, but even going beyond that handling situations I can't handle because I'm out of state.
Around here we tend to have open houses for other brokers only. Sure, the public is always welcome but it is mainly to show other agents what is going on.
No to public open houses, but yes to realtor open houses. I think they may be called realtor caravans? Anyway, my realtor invited other realtors and hosted a little cocktail hour. Worked out great for me as a seller.
Just the opposite. Realtors don't need to come see the average house. I've got better things to do.
Getting a flow of traffic through a home is important. Open Houses have come back especially in hot markets. It only takes 1 good looker to like a home and many come from OH's.
My Realtor takes a chair and card table to her open houses, sets up and connects her laptop to the Internet and works when she is waiting for walk-ins, so it's not a total waste of her time. She's just merely working in a less comfortable "portable" office during the open house.
And I agree with Rakin. All it takes is one interested buyer to make a deal and the open house was worth it.
I believe she plans on spending about 3-4 hours at the open house before moving on. Definitely not an all day affair.
I went to open houses all the time when I was looking for a condo. I wanted to see what the different complexes around had to offer. When I came to this place and saw the unit they were showing, I loved it and made an offer but someone else beat me to it. I don't know if that buyer found it through the open house.
Anyway, it worked out for somebody else, because I decided this was where I was going to live, and I looked at the other units that were for sale here and picked one. The one I saw first on the open house was the best, though. Well-kept and everything updated.
That's another contribution open houses do to serve the market, by encouraging people who are thinking of maybe buying a home to become enthusiastic enough to get a Realtor and start viewing houses.
Realtors, your open houses are helping to stimulate the market! Probably the possible buyers you encourage to become actively looking for a new home, but you are increasing the market for yourself and your fellow agents.
I think we can all agree, buyers, sellers and agents, that we like an active market!
I've bought a house from an open house. I drove by, saw the sign, went in to look and told the agent to expect an offer from me that afternoon.
I called my agent and made an appointment to meet with her to write the offer, which was submitted and accepted.
I had next door neighbors who sold his house at a garage sale. He mention to a customer at the garage sale that he would be selling the house and she bought it.
I don't think all that many houses are sold from open house viewings, though.
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