Opening Doors with Open Houses

by Marqué Bressler

Is having an open house a good idea? When posed to a group of REALTORS®, this question can be counted on to trigger animated debate. For every REALTOR® who believes that an open house is an effective way to market a home and generate leads, there is another who disagrees. Results from the 2006 Profile of Buyers and Seller, published by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) showed that 47 percent of all home buyers go to open houses. However, when asked where they learned about the home they purchased, `open house' did not even show up. The most valid concern in hosting an open house is the possibility of immediate theft or the potential that someone posing as a buyer canvasses the property with the intent to return at a later date. Although the percentage of cases where an open house leads to danger is low, the possibility is very real and should always be discussed with the owner to determine their wishes. Threats aside, open houses provide opportunities for people to come through the house who are not qualified to buy the home, or have no intention of buying any home (i.e. the neighbors.) And lastly, regardless of which side you hang your hat (pro or con), most agents will agree that the percentage of sales that are a direct result of an open house is low.

Open House Tips Open House - Safety Tips Open Season - article by Lee Stratton in the 3/18/07 Dispatch Open House Sunday - April 15 In honor of American Home Week, CBR along with The Columbus Dispatch will sponsor an Open House Sunday on April 15. Special rate packages will be offered to help REALTORS® promote their open houses that day and a chance to win $500 in furnishings from Open Buggy Furniture Gallery to help entice buyers to visit those open houses. Details            Deadline:  April 9, 2007 Affordable Housing Open House - May 6 This 3rd year affordable housing event offers REALTORS® the opportunity get free market-wide attention for any Open House held at a home listed for $125,000 or below. Last year we had 150 homes open and, due to the overwhelming demand, we will be able to accommodate a maximum of 250 homes this year. The Affordable Housing Committee has collected many terrific prizes to further motivate potential buyers to come to your open house. Details/Registration Form           Deadline:  May 1, 2007 Open House Thursdays Four area realty associations (North Area, Greater Worthington, Bexley-Eastmoor-Berwick and Midtown (downtown Columbus) are all hosting open houses in their areas on the third Thursday of the month, 5:00 -- 7:00 p.m. from March through October.  More info

So why hold an open house?

Agents hold open houses for a number of reasons. An open house might entice a buyer, who, for whatever reason, might not otherwise make a formal appointment to see the home.

Open houses provide agents the opportunity to meet new buyers who, if not interested in the open house, might be converted into a client on the sale of another home.

But the first and foremost reason agents hold open houses is to promote the property for the seller. It's part of most agent's marketing package and sellers have come to expect it.

And now, with an unprecedented number of homes on the market, sellers may feel the agent is not doing a good job of marketing if their home isn't drawing enough showing activity.

How can it? Sales in the first two months of this year are 14.4 percent higher than the average number of sales for the first couple months in the past four years.

However, we currently have over 40 percent more homes listed than the average in the past four years. So if you spread the buyers in the market among the sellers on the market, there's going to be less activity per home.

In other words, there just aren't enough buyers to go around.

In addition, buyers are using the Internet more today to `shop' for homes, thereby further reducing onsite visits to the home, which only fuels the seller's feelings of neglect.

So, what we have is a lot of unsatisfied sellers. And agents are scrambling to come up with new and better ways to promote their listings.

Open House seems to be the marketing buzz word these days as we have several open house events going on in central Ohio. (See Open House events - top right)