There has been some conversation in real estate circles as to the validity and value of the open house. Many have said that the open house hold no value and many real estate agents don't engage in the open house much anymore. Statistics seem to indicate that few sales are made from open houses. But, these statistics are misleading. People forget to take into account several benefits that do emerge from an open house. This is not to say that if you hold an open house, your home will sell immediately, there is a lot more to it than that.
Here are a few things to take into account: most open house viewers are simply people who have happened to drive by and saw the sign.
While having no intention of buying, they decide to take a look anyway. These type of viewers are the majority for an average weekend open house. There will also be interested home buyers that are going through several homes in a single day. These are the buyers that you want to appeal to. Try to do some things to your home that will set it apart from the other homes that people have viewed. If necessary, go look at the other open homes yourself and see what your competition is doing and offering. If you are familiar with what other options buyers have then you should be able to make some attractive changes to your home.
One of the most important open houses happens long before the general public gets to poke through your things. Before your home is the subject of an open house there will be an open house for realtors only. This is where your listing agent will showcase your home to buyer's agents and other real estate agents so that they can take advantage of the networking to get as many buyers interested as possible. This is a critical step in the marketing of a home, and one that should never be underrated. It is true that not a lot of sales are made from open houses but in the overly competitive world of real estate it is necessary to utilize every selling tool that is available.
