Open House: When is it a fit?
In my humble opinion hosting an open house is neither senseless nor influential; it does have a place in my marketing plan since many clients anticipate it and I enjoy it very much since real time feedback from the buyers are invaluable to position the home in the market place. Question is: Should the realtors host open house for every home they market? Why or why not?
As you know almost all home shopping starts online especially nowadays since we are more confined in our homes due to increased health risks. Also, it makes so much sense for the seller and the realtor to focus on internet marketing since it virtually costs nothing and the outreach and conversion is powerful.
In order to market the property online, we rely on professional services such as photography and videography; these are massive marketing points for many homes and this situation especially applies to videography, 3D Home Tours and drone shots, since they capture the flow and layout which might be hard to convey with only photographs.
Think about this kind of visual marketing as a short movie of your home where the set looks so flawless that it appeals buyers to partake an action in the movie. Keep in mind, professional photos and videos even cause homes to sell without private home tours in some special cases such as relocating
Major problem with the open homes is they attract consumers who might not be motivated of making a purchase yet or never, instead more interested in comparisons within their neighborhood, decoration ideas or just pure curiousness. Regardless of the reason, increase in foot traffic not necessarily relate to solid offers.
You might even attract some unwanted visitors who are more interested in harming your values and property. Burglary is not uncommon since your home is open for the entire public to see; it is hard to lock every cabinet.
In this matter, luxury homes should be evaluated twice since some customers might have no intention or even ability to buy in that price range. An open house is exactly what it means: a house open for anyone to come and walkthrough.
If you are in a hot market where the houses are selling as fast as they hit the market, your agent will be more inclined to host an open house. Keep in mind, if the market is as hot as that, the house will sell regardless if there is an open house or not
To give you some insider information, in our industry open houses are seen as lead generation tools for agents to face some potential buyers for most of the cases. Some agents hold open houses to meet with additional new potential homebuyers for perhaps other properties. This is especially true for new agents because most new agents work with the buyers end.
In some cases agents actually make the most of open house marketing especially when the market is hot and the home is still fresh. Your agent might even hold off showings until the open house as this creates buildup anticipation where she can use it to your advantage to negotiate on the spirit of competition. Another good outcome of this approach is since multiple offers are received on the first day of the showing, you would not have to worry about home preparation for future showings if the offer is accepted.
Another scenario where an open house can have positive results is what we call “Broker’s Open House”. Broker’s Open House is held only for brokers and agents. These professionals either may have potential clients or expect to meet buyers who fit in the criteria in the future. By interacting with mutual minded professionals, you may get potential buyers and even some information about the décor, price comparison, house condition and more…
Always keep in mind if the following describes you when your agent offer open house: the best homes generating the most traffic are typically the newest listings at a reasonable price in a good neighborhood and easily accessed from main streets
in summary, open house was a great marketing tool in the past prior to the internet. Because of the increased online trends, majority of the time open houses cause foot traffic for unserious customers. Your agent should focus on how to position to you in the market place and sometimes this might mean not holding open houses. All marketing should be tailored according to the home and your unique situation.
