Having the Right Expectations About Open Houses

There are many ways to go about getting a home out there and in front of potential buyers such as listing the home on brokerage websites, open houses, social media ads, etc. but in order to be successful in these different types of marketing, we must set correct expectations up front.

When we list a home for sale, Team Hamilton already has a marketing plan to get your home sold. Once a listing contract is signed, your home is listed in our Realtor MLS system which agents all over Michigan have access to. Agents working with buyers usually have their clients set up for automatic searches which send out homes that match their specific criteria each day. Once the home is listed in the MLS, your homes information and pictures will feed out to hundreds of other sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc. so you’ll be covered all over the internet for buyers searching on many sites.

The next step may be deciding to hold an open house. It is important to recognize the benefits of holding your home open to the public as well as the negative aspects. According to the National Association of Realtors, just 4% of buyers visited open houses. So despite what you may be hearing, it is possible to effectively sell a home without having an open house.

Pros:

-Convenient:

              If your home is in a hot price range such as $200,000-$250,000 in a desirable area, you could potentially have many interested buyers. It could get hectic with showings so an open house on a weekend may be a good idea to get all of the showings over with in just a few days.

-Unrepresented buyers:

              You may be able to snag a buyer who isn’t working with a buyer’s agent that might happen to fall in love with your home. Your listing agent may become a dual agent if all parties agree, which can offer some benefits like knowing what is happening in a more transparent fashion throughout the transaction, as well as the potential to save real estate commission.

-Initiative:

              Your agent is showing that they are willing to go out there and put in effort to get your home sold.

Cons:

-Unqualified buyers:

              Anyone can walk through an open house, but are they truly qualified and ready to buy your home? Serious buyers have already talked with a lender and submitted documents in order to obtain a pre-approval. This tells the buyer what price range they can afford. When agents schedule regular showings, buyers have already typically gone through this step. That way people aren’t wasting your time going through a home they cannot afford or are not ready to jump on yet.  

-Nosy Neighbors:

              Nosy neighbors love to peek in open houses and see how other homes in the neighborhood compare to their own and have no intention of actually buying it.

-Security Issues:

              Open houses allow criminals the opportunity to explore a home with opportunity to plan a break in or steal things. If we decide to hold an open house, we typically always have 2 people present in order to keep a close watch on people touring the home though.

As long as expectations are addressed up front and agents and clients know all pros and cons of open houses, it is then the best time to decide if hosting an open house is the right choice in marketing your home.