Open Houses
One of the more popular questions sellers ask is: “Are open houses worthwhile?” Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer. Here are the two trains of thought:
The Con Arguments
- Most offers are NOT received during open houses.
- Anyone that interested in the home should just make an appointment.
- Getting the Realtor to schedule one was difficult
- Lots of work to get the house ready, and after all that:
- Only the nosy neighbors showed up.
The Pro Arguments
- Occasionally, sellers do receive offers during open houses. This happens more frequently in a sellers market, when there are more buyers than sellers, but we have seen it happen in slow times as well.
- Some sellers use open houses to apply pressure to a potential buyer. For example, if there is an offer in the negotiation stage (but not “accepted” yet), holding an open house can pressure the buyer into moving more quickly before someone else makes a better offer. It sends a signal to the buyer that the seller is willing to walk away from their offer and find a different buyer.
- Why not? It may or may not help, but it certainly won’t hurt!
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