Are you selling your house and you’re curious if having an open house is the right move to get your home sold? In this video, I’m going to debunk some common misconceptions so you can find out the truth about open houses. We’ll look at everything from the effects on your home sale to security so you can decide if holding an open house is best for your situation.
Open House Myths
If you’re selling your home, the biggest myth about open houses is that they will not sell your house. A lot of sellers believe that an open house is going to be the best thing for them, and they imagine that a lot of buyers are going to come through on the day of the open house.
The truth is that, more often than not, the buyers that come through the door will not be buying your home. They may buy a different home, but not yours. In fact, the open house is more of a benefit to the salesperson holding it than it is to the homeowner. Most of the time, the real estate agent can meet new clients at the open house and sell them another quote.
People walking through the door may not be very motivated or ready to buy right now—which is why they’re at the open house. Alternatively, they may not be a buyer at all. They might be a nosy neighbor who’s thinking about selling, and they just want to see what the competition looks like. Of course, they’re certainly not going to be buying your home if they already live nearby.
Hard-Working Agents
One thing that sellers want is to make sure their agent is working hard—and they should be. However, it’s hard to see what type of advertising they’re doing behind the computer screen. An open house is one way for a real estate agent to show their client that they’re working hard. We want to make sure that we’re being strategic and doing things that are going to actually help you sell your home.
There is a case where I think open houses can be very successful. For example, if the seller’s home is only available one day for showings or the seller wants to keep showings to a single day, we should hold an open house that day. We can then funnel all buyers into a single open house. This can create massive competition and a bidding war if done correctly.
Otherwise, your most serious buyers are going to want to schedule a private showing with their real estate agent. This means they’re probably not going to show up at an open house if they’re a real serious buyer who’s motivated to do something soon.
Safety And Security
Another thing you want to think about as a homeowner is safety. Of course, it’s very difficult for the real estate agent to play bodyguard or security guard and protect your home at an open house. This means there are safety concerns to think about.
You’re going to have a lot of people in your house going in all different directions. Not only is the real estate agent not security, but they also can’t be in every room of the house at the same time. If you have any questions about safety, I’d recommend not having an open house.
Making The Right Choice
As a salesperson, I’ve met many clients at open houses—but they’ve never purchased that home. In fact, I worked with them many years later to purchase an additional home, which worked out great for me. However, it didn’t help the homeowner at the original open house. On the flip side, I have sold many homes to buyers just days before or after the open house.
Additionally, how are we to predict that the open house is going to fit the schedule of the buyer? Recently, I had an experience where the seller had an open house planned but didn’t have a good turnout. We had a private showing with a buyer just a few days later, and that buyer ended up buying the house. This had nothing to do with the open house.
When looking at the data of how buyers found the house that they purchased, buying a home after seeing it at an open house represents a very small portion of buyers. If we were to really dig into the data, it’s mostly new-construction homes that are sold at open houses. For resale homes, you really shouldn’t be reliant upon an open house unless there’s a special condition.
I’m Here To Help
I hope this helped you understand the truth of some of the myths and common misconceptions about open houses. While they’re not for everybody, they still might be a great fit for you. If you’d like more information, feel free to reach out to me and we can go over some specific strategies on how to sell your home—as well as what would be the best strategy for you.
For more real estate tips and tricks, subscribe to my channel so you never miss a new video. Stay tuned to see what I feature on the next episode!