The Listing Agent - Marketing Your Home to Homebuyers
Open Houses
An open house when your property is first
placed on the market can be very important, but not for the reasons most
homeowners think. Just like with advertising, most visitors to open
houses rarely buy the house they come to look at. They may not even know
the price of your home when they stop by to visit – they probably just
followed an "Open House" sign to your door.
An open house performs a similar function
to the neighborhood announcements – it lets all of your neighbors know
that your house is for sale, and it practically invites them to come
"take a look." Being generally nosy, a lot of your neighbors
will take advantage of the invitation.
And they may tell their friends about
your house, creating more "word of mouth" advertising.
Of course, there are other reasons for
holding open houses, too. Listing agents who "farm" a
particular neighborhood use them as an opportunity to meet with other
local homeowners who will someday be selling their home. Your agent may
hope to list their homes in the future.
Open houses held after your home has been
on the market awhile do not usually serve a useful purpose in selling
your home. Most of the neighbors already know your house is for sale and
open house visitors rarely buy the homes they visit.
However, if you really want more open
houses, your listing agent may allow other agents to hold it open. Open
houses attract prospective homebuyers and agents hope to convince some
of those homebuyers to become their clients.
© 2000 by Terry Light and RealEstate ABC, revised 2004
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