One of the questions that we get from Queens’ homeowners and potential sellers is, “Do you host open houses?” and the answer really is that it depends. (https://www.invisibly.com/) We do believe in open houses and we do believe that it is a good strategy to get buyers and agents in, but it is definitely not a requirement. For our team in particular, we leave the decision up to our client. What we do is explain the process and benefits of open houses but the ultimate decision comes from our clients.
Now, is an open house actually going to sell your property? The answer to that is no. In reality, all buyers are looking online so if you’re wondering whether the open house sign being in front of your house is actually going to attract the buyer that is going to end up buying your house, chances are that won’t be the case. However, what’s important to note about open houses is that they are a very convenient time for buyers and agents to come tour a property since most buyers and agents are available on weekends.
On our team, we like to do open houses for the first two weekends of a new listing (if possible) because in those first two weeks, we are the newest hot listing that just hit the market and as long as we do a good job with our pricing & marketing, then there will most likely be a lot of people waiting to see the property in person. The strategy is simple, if a property is priced right and marketed well during the first two weeks, then there should be a lot of people excited to come see it and if all showings are held off until the first open houses, then that will increase our chances of a multiple offer situation. After the first two weeks, we typically switch to private appointments because the amount of interest and activity usually drops off after the first two weeks.
What we like to tell homeowners is that the open house is not necessarily going to sell the house, but it is a convenient time for buyers and agents to come by and see it in person. If a seller opts to not have open houses, then we just show by private appointments only and depending on the situation, this may or may not limit the amount of in viewings during the first two weeks.
Whenever we have a listing that only shows by private appointments, it can get a little tricky because you start having to work around several schedules (i.e. Buyer(s), their agent, the seller(s), their agent, etc). This can possibly lead to the loss of potential buyers because some buyers won’t continue trying to see a property if it becomes to difficult to schedule a viewing.
As you can imagine, most buyers are available on the weekend, and most agents are available on weekends as well so if you host open houses for the first two weeks, then you are pretty much guaranteeing that every person that is interested in your property is actually going to have a chance to walk through the doors. What that does is maximize your exposure, and ideally that would maximize your offers after those first two weeks. If everything goes well, then you could be fielding offers after those first two weekends and if that’s the case, then you can move right into contract after that.
So, to answer the question simply, “do we host open houses?” Yes. Are they required? No. We have a team of full time agents so we can host open houses during the first two weeks only, or we can host open houses on every weekend until the property sells. Hope this answers the question clearly. Ultimately, open houses are just an ideal time for buyers and agents to see the home and that ensures that everybody who wants to see the house gets in to see it.
If you have any questions about open houses or about our open house strategy, please don’t hesitate to reach out.