Open House is such a great marketing tool for real estate agents, sellers and buyers alike. This past Sunday, August 31st, 2008 (Labor Day Weekend no less) was amazingly busy for open houses. I held an open house in the Hollywood Riviera at a listing that I’ve had listed for a while now and sat open houses plenty of times now. I had it open for 2 hours and honestly there were so many people there that I couldn’t count how many people came. (and I thought I’d be reading my book the whole time due to the holiday – boy was I wrong.) Laura also sat an open house the same day also in the Hollywood Riviera and also reported the same findings. Now these houses have been on the market for a while, so it wasn’t just the neighbors “nosing” around. This was lots of people looking at what the neighborhood had for sale and seemingly really wanting to buy a house. We have another listing over in Rancho Palos Verdes and a colleague of ours held that one open as well…she said it was incredibly busy as well and that she ended up staying late to accommodate the traffic.
I see a tiny boost in consumer confidence right now and that is a good thing. Usually this time of year is super slow (even in our past “busy” seller’s markets.) People are typically on their last-hoorah-summer-vacations and getting ready for school. Or going to the beach no matter what before the summer ends….not attending open houses just for fun. This is what makes me feel like things are at least on the horizon of turning around. We shall see what the next couple of months hold prior to the holidays and elections. I’m super curious!
Open House is a great tool for sellers – it allows for maximum exposure. So many agents today are sending their clients to open houses – that way no one feels “obligated” to make a special appointment. People know when the open houses are and drive around looking for them. They don’t feel pressure that way. We have had several sales from buyers that first saw the house at open house and not because their agent showed them the house.
Open House is a great tool for buyers – it allows buyers to get a better feel of what is available in a neighborhood and start to understand the values in a neighborhood. It also allows buyers to meet real estate agents and get to know them. A lot of buyers are secretly interviewing agents as they tour around. They are listening to the agents talk to other people, etc. Checking to see what type of marketing materials are available etc.
Open House is a great tool for real estate agents – it allows an agent to expose themselves to different neighborhoods – although it is best to host an open house in a neighborhood that you really know if you are at all trying to impress any buyers and/or sell the house. It is a great way to start to meet the neighbors – they may have a lot of info about the neighborhood and/or the house you are selling that may be useful!
