Blog Post

Useful Tactic or Hollow Gesture? Debating the Value of Open Houses

Amy Collett • February 28, 2022

When it comes to open houses, there’s no hard-and-fast rule beyond, perhaps, the bonds of tradition. In fact, homeowners often debate the true value of staging a home for prospective buyers. The real issue is whether open houses actually sell homes, or if they’re just a way of getting attention, is ensuring that one’s home is listed prominently in a given area.

Many real estate agents claim that they frequently sell homes based on the success of a well-staged open house. At the same time, some of the hottest real estate markets in the United States record positive numbers that have nothing to do with open houses. The National Association or Realtors found that just 7 percent of homebuyers found the home they purchased through an open house or yard sign.

Read on for some thoughts from S&P Properties.

Technology

There’s little doubt that the advent of the internet and communications technology have had a lot to do with a nascent erosion of faith in the traditional open house. Today, homeowners routinely list their homes with full details and frequently asked questions on dedicated websites. Savvy real estate agents and sellers make effective use of social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to gain an advantage on other sellers, especially in a highly competitive market.

Whether it’s social media or a website, you can complement your agent’s marketing efforts by creating a standout logo that will be part of each presentation. You can easily do this with free logo design software, a graphics-rich tool that’s online and that you can use to customize to show the world your home.

Whether this is a better way to market and sell a home than signs on street corners with brightly colored balloons and the promise of cookies and hors d’oeuvres can be difficult to quantify. What’s generally accepted is that using technology is a more targeted way of reaching prospective home buyers with the information they need to make informed decisions.

Homeowners are also able to take buyers on a virtual “tour” of their homes that doesn’t require getting dressed up and showing up for a formal walk-through. Consequently, buyers don’t feel pressured.

Logistics

From a practical standpoint, as Realty Times points out, open houses place considerable pressure on sellers. To stage a successful one, it’s necessary to maintain a home that’s pristinely clean, often for weeks on end, a difficult thing for any busy family to achieve. If you have pets, it’s necessary to conceal their presence, including finding somewhere to house them while you’re showing your house.

In some cases, homeowners have actually been burglarized while showing their home, a constant risk since it’s usually deemed necessary to allow buyers into every part of your home. Perhaps the greatest imposition of all is insisting that owners leave their own homes for hours on end while real estate agents show their homes.