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Real estate open houses, waste of time or successful in selling home, real estate agents, home sale statistics, nosey neighbors, relocation, house showings
This is about Mindy guys...she's been trying to sell this house and you guys are arguing about open houses. She did start the thread, "sellers."
Mindy, there are some areas where open houses can generate a lot of traffic. I don't know if you live in one of those neighborhoods. Typically desirable middle class neighborhoods are good for open houses and lead generators for real estate agents. If you are unsure, hit some open houses this weekend in your area and see what kind of traffic they are getting.
I ended up at an open house this weekend with some buyers as I didn't want to have the seller leave the house for more time. The agent let potential buyers have free reign in the home. You need to weigh the percentage gain (whatever stat you want to subscribe to) with the risks associated with them. Out here, stealing medicine is really big...
After the open house, make sure your agent or you goes and double checks all windows and doors. Some thieves like to unlock a bedroom window or some other place to access later.
For all of the risks involved, I just don't think they are worth it for sellers. For me as an agent, it's a great potential client generation tool. You're getting the gamut here opinions for open houses. Not sure how helpful it is for you though...
We just listed our house on Saturday. We will be holding an open house every other Sunday. I know the statistics are not good for open houses but as long as it gets people in the door I don't mind. Even snooping neighbors have friends that might be interested in moving! We have to sell for my husband's job so the more people who see the house the better for us. Besides, what better things do I have to do on a Sunday afternoon? I actually know 2 people who have bought recently and they both saw their houses at an open house.
We just listed our house on Saturday. We will be holding an open house every other Sunday. I know the statistics are not good for open houses but as long as it gets people in the door I don't mind. Even snooping neighbors have friends that might be interested in moving! We have to sell for my husband's job so the more people who see the house the better for us. Besides, what better things do I have to do on a Sunday afternoon? I actually know 2 people who have bought recently and they both saw their houses at an open house.
You want to truthfully know what will get QUALIFIED BUYERS in your door? A very aggressive priced to sell home. Bottom line.
You are just wasting a Sunday afternoon doing that. Also, I'd be curious to see if your realtor will be doing the open house or his assistant. Get smart like some sellers on here and don't chase prices down. Price your home to sell before the market tanks even further.
You want to truthfully know what will get QUALIFIED BUYERS in your door? A very aggressive priced to sell home. Bottom line.
You are just wasting a Sunday afternoon doing that. Also, I'd be curious to see if your realtor will be doing the open house or his assistant. Get smart like some sellers on here and don't chase prices down. Price your home to sell before the market tanks even further.
We do have it priced aggressively. Our agent does not have an assistant and does all the open houses herself. We are also doing a brokers open. I honestly have no problem doing an open house. Like I said, I know 2 people in the last 6 months who bought the house they saw at an open house. We need to sell and I'm willing to do anything (price is right, offer incentive to buyers, open house, etc). You never know when the right person will be looking. It's my choice and one I'm happy with.
Even snooping neighbors have friends that might be interested in moving!
This is exactly why I like having open houses at my house (which is for sale) and my realtor does not have an assistant, she does the open house herself. I do check my windows and doors and closets and a million other spots after the open house just to make sure.
My neighbors did come to my first open house, they told me they did. Why? Because they have friends and family and now that they've seen the inside they can tell their friends and family how wonderful my house is and see if anyone is interested.
We do have it priced aggressively. Our agent does not have an assistant and does all the open houses herself. We are also doing a brokers open. I honestly have no problem doing an open house. Like I said, I know 2 people in the last 6 months who bought the house they saw at an open house. We need to sell and I'm willing to do anything (price is right, offer incentive to buyers, open house, etc). You never know when the right person will be looking. It's my choice and one I'm happy with.
Go for it! You have nothing to lose at all. You CAN actually ENJOY the time away from the house. Go see a movie if the weather is icky or spend the afternoon getting a massage/manicure/pedicure (relieve stress ). If the weather is great go to the park, play golf, go hang out by the lake, take a drive out into the countryside, be a tourist in your own city for the day. Go see something that is where you live now that you never have. Heck, if you don't have plans for Saturday and earlier in the day on Sunday and can get the house "show ready" a day ahead then go out for a quick weekend getaway to relieve the stress of selling and moving. Have your realtor come over a bit earlier and get things ready for you (or a good friend/neighbor). Taking advantage of the time will not make it seem like you "wasted" your day if no bites come directly FROM the open house. But one never knows.
As I said earlier, a neighbor had one this past weekend and it was BUSY!!! Several very interested parties came by and some lookers that are thinking about moving and seeing what was out there w/o the pressure of having to get an agent to schedule appointments (how many sellers on here have complained about the "buyers" not being serious?????). The open house gets the people that might be thinking about moving/buying motivated. Oh yeah, when I first listed my last house we did an open house and we DID get a contract THAT DAY from someone that came thru it. How did I forget about that???? It does happen and if you and your realtor are willing to have an open house then they CAN be worth it. It is just another tool to use when marketing a home for sale.
It doesn't really matter whether it is the licensed assistant, the listing agent, or another agent that is holding the open house open. Many assistants are licensed agents and have opted to work full time as assistants, and if they can get a buyer for your home, they will get a bonus.
If an agent has 15 or 20 listings it is impossible to hold open houses for all of them. There are some agents who may not have listings of their own, and are happy to hold open houses open. They may find a buyer for your home, or they may obtain a client that wants to purchase another house.
The important thing is that you have the open houses, if you want them, and expose your home to many other people, who otherwise may not see the home, but my refer it, and have that extra 5% chance of selling your home.
This is about Mindy guys...she's been trying to sell this house and you guys are arguing about open houses. She did start the thread, "sellers."
Mindy, there are some areas where open houses can generate a lot of traffic. I don't know if you live in one of those neighborhoods. Typically desirable middle class neighborhoods are good for open houses and lead generators for real estate agents. If you are unsure, hit some open houses this weekend in your area and see what kind of traffic they are getting.
I ended up at an open house this weekend with some buyers as I didn't want to have the seller leave the house for more time. The agent let potential buyers have free reign in the home. You need to weigh the percentage gain (whatever stat you want to subscribe to) with the risks associated with them. Out here, stealing medicine is really big...
After the open house, make sure your agent or you goes and double checks all windows and doors. Some thieves like to unlock a bedroom window or some other place to access later.
For all of the risks involved, I just don't think they are worth it for sellers. For me as an agent, it's a great potential client generation tool. You're getting the gamut here opinions for open houses. Not sure how helpful it is for you though...
As a seller now and one who has sold many other houses there is a lot of truth in the quote above. We've lived in areas where an open house generated decent traffic and we currently live in a place where you can get several hours of sleep during an open house since no one shows up. Every agent I've ever had has told me that OH's help them more than me for the most part but will try them to see what kind of traffic we'll get and if I felt it wasn't worth it then we wouldn't do it again.
We've even offered prizes,food and drink to draw people in to no avail.
Best advice I can give you is try one and see if it is worth it to YOU.
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). If the weather is great go to the park, play golf, go hang out by the lake, take a drive out into the countryside, be a tourist in your own city for the day. Go see something that is where you live now that you never have. Heck, if you don't have plans for Saturday and earlier in the day on Sunday and can get the house "show ready" a day ahead then go out for a quick weekend getaway to relieve the stress of selling and moving. Have your realtor come over a bit earlier and get things ready for you (or a good friend/neighbor). Taking advantage of the time will not make it seem like you "wasted" your day if no bites come directly FROM the open house. But one never knows.
