Ten Reasons the Reluctant Seller Might Reconsider Having a Public Open House After all...

Open Houses: Helpful Tool but Not all Sellers' "Cup of Tea."

For obvious reasons, inviting strangers into your home for an Open House can be a patently unappealing prospect. It's true that few homes are sold on the day of the open house, but home-selling is about creating possibilities and opportunities for the right person, at the right time, to offer the right price and buy your home.

Having an Open House gives many relevant folks (who might not otherwise schedule a showing) a chance to see and promote your house to others. Appealing to these folks (who may tell 2 friends and so on...) make up the best reasons to possibly reconsider an open.
Here's More:

*Beyond getting the word out, We believe the best reason for Sellers to hold Open Houses, is that it's a Showing Time you know about in advance. It doesn't interrupt dinner or cause you to rush home from work mid-day to make the beds and do the dishes! You also  have time to get ready for it and you have time to plan something else to do outside the home.

*Yes, nosy neighbors will come. Other than other real estate agents, they are probably the best word-of-mouth advertisers you can get. They've already bought the neighborhood and make excellent ambassadors to potential buyers.

In addition to Neighbors, others types who are unlikely to book a showing, but whose interest in your home could help affect a sale include:

*Buyers who look forward to regularly sampling each Sunday's Open House smorgasbord, be it motivated by systematic effort or because no appointment is needed.

*Very busy folks who loathe committing to appointments but who will check the web/Patch for Open Houses if they discover an hour or two is available.

*Folks who are uncertain from the exterior (or web images) if the house is for them. Fence-sitters may not want to invest in an appointment but Do pop into opens and DO get pleasantly surprised.

*Commuters to nearby places of work who will see the Open House sign every day prior to Sunday and to whom your house is geographically desirable.

*Out-of-town buyers with limited time and availability, which often meshes well with Sunday afternoons.

*Folks who don't want to feel they are imposing by requesting a private showing, but who are nevertheless bonafide buyers. There's a surprisingly high volume of individuals like this.

*Realtors who each Week feed their Buyer Clients desirable open houses listings and who encourage attendance.

*Realtors who interface regularly with some or dozens of buyers. Even if no current client has expressed interest in a home, good Realtors use Open House opportunities to see as many relevant homes as possible so they can be market-knowledgeable and make suggestions. If the notion of a weekend, open house for the public is untenable, we recommend considering a Broker's Only Open House, which your agent can hold on a weekday afternoon.

Contrary to popular opinion, you can attend your own Open House with no ill-affects. Obviously you don't want to hover and smother folks, but Open-housers usually don't know who is an Agent or who is just another looker. If you can stand it, going undercover at your own open house and hearing the feedback can be an invaluable experience, while providing you with the opportunity to watch over things and obtain the level of comfort necessary to proceed.

- Ted Gross, Prudential Fox & Roach and R5Realty.com News & Notes.
R5Realty News/Notes is written and produced Locally, specifically for Mainline/Philadelphia-area home-buyers and sellers.