Houses DO sell from the traditional open house. I am a convert! I used to believe, admittedly from experience, that open houses do not sell homes. I believed they were strictly for the selling agent to sign up new buyers. It is true that this happens and for that reason alone an open house is a great idea for the agent selling the home. But what about the seller?
I recently listed a very unique and beautiful home. I had coached the seller on how to sell by-owner and she marketed the home for about two months on her own to no avail. Afterward, she contacted me and listed the home. We priced it correctly for the home, but a tad high for homes of that square footage and style for the area. We did so because this home was very unique. It is a log home with a sided appearance and a gorgeous stone fireplace in the vaulted living room next to the gourmet kitchen right off the covered back porch with built in Jacuzzi and outdoor kitchen. Get the picture? The challenge with this home was getting buyers to understand what was beyond the front door!
About 30 days into the listing we held an open house. We did all the advertising and hoopla needed to bring it to the attention of the community and were very pleased with the turnout. Low and behold the buyers were blown away by the home’s interior and we accepted an offer that evening.
So that’s my conversion story, but it wouldn’t be complete without telling you the whole story. Nearly every buyer that came was “kicking tires”. They were NOT necessarily serious buyers, but more passive in their approach. I heard over and over again when I asked if they were represented “Yes, but we are in no rush so we don’t want to waste our agent’s time”. These were folks that had an agent (some of them) but had not seriously engaged in the process of buying until THE house was presented to them.
That’s when it hit me that I needed to market directly to that crowd and make sure that what I show them is spectacular in some way. It could be in appearance, but it could also be in price, landscaping, location, amenities or any host of other areas. The point is, impress buyers with something they were not expecting and they will rocket out of their comas and spring into action on the home.
The answer to the controversy then is a resounding YES, the Open House is for the Agent AND the Seller. We have incorporated open houses in our standard listing packages and have seen great results with our changed paradigm.
By Tim Halladay
