Sundell Realty's Guide on Hosting Open Houses
by Andrew Sundell
Purpose of an Open House
Open Houses for home sellers can be quite beneficial if executed properly. An open house is when the seller allows their real estate agent to invite the public to view the home freely during a set date and time. This is a great tool to leverage to increase demand for your property, and to allow buyers that are on the fence to come and see for themselves the features and potential of your home without having to rely on an agent.
Ensure that your agent knows how to host a great open house by following the below tips.
At What Point Should the Open House Occur?
Some agents question the efficacy of open houses. To drive demand, open houses should be held within the first couple of weeks after listing your home. When buyers see an open house scheduled on a new listing, they make a greater effort to see the property before the open house occurs. Especially in a low inventory market where buyers need to see houses quickly, or risk losing out on their dream home, open houses are really effective.
If the house has lingered on the market, an open house can still be effective in generating some traffic, but it becomes less likely that your buyer will come from an open house. In any event, whether the open coincides with the launch of your listing, or it comes later into the listing period, any additional traffic it generates is beneficial to the seller.
What Is The Best Day of The Week to Host Open Houses?
Let’s say you’ve decided to host an open house during the first week your listing goes live. What steps can your agent take to drive traffic to the house, and how can he or she capture the buyers’ attention while at the open house?
First, discuss which day your open will occur. Common sense rules out weekdays because most of the buying public works during the week. Thus, now you need to decide if you should host it on a Saturday or Sunday. In my experience, I prefer to host my open houses on Sundays. I have received a better response from Sunday showings and I think it is because most buyers use Saturdays to unwind from the long work week.
As far as the ideal length and time to host, you want to give buyers at decent window to view the property. Keep in mind many buyers go on open house “tours”. They will visit a grouping of open houses in the area for properties that match their search criteria. Thus, you will want to host the open for at least 2 hours to allow for busy buyers to fit your home into their schedule. I prefer to host open houses in the early afternoon so buyers have the morning to prepare for the tour; typically from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.
How Can My Agent Drive Traffic to My Open House?
The first, and most effective, step your agent should take is to set up the open house in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is the database where your listing is posted; all of your listing’s information is then automatically fed to all of the homebuyer websites (Realtor.com, Zillow/Trulia, Redfin, etc.). Once the tour is scheduled in the MLS, home buyers searching on these websites will see the Open House date in the listing facts.
Your agent can also place directional Open House signs near your home in advance of the open house to let passers-by know when/where it will occur. However, some townships/HOAs prohibit the placement of real estate signage on their property and they may discard these signs. Your agent should know to check with the township before placing any signage. I’ve unfortunately had many signs discarded over the years, even after checking with the local township/community.
The Final Word
Every agent has their own style of hosting open houses, but I hope this article has given you some guidance on increasing your open house’s effectiveness. While many agents dislike open houses, if done right, it can really help to secure a great offer for your home. Making the open house enjoyable for buyers is important as well, so discuss with your agent what he or she will do to engage buyers. Brochures, candles, food/drink, a formal sign-in process, and great signage are just a handful of tactics that agents employ to make for a great open house experience.
Every agent has their own style of hosting open houses, but I hope this article has given you some guidance on increasing your open house’s effectiveness. While many agents dislike open houses, if done right, it can really help to secure a great offer for your home. Making the open house enjoyable for buyers is important as well, so discuss with your agent what he or she will do to engage buyers. Brochures, candles, food/drink, a formal sign-in process, and great signage are just a handful of tactics that agents employ to make for a great open house experience.
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