In my 36 years in real estate, I’ve seen quite a few changes, as you can imagine. But one of the biggest ones is the importance of open houses.
In my early career the common perception was that open houses were a waste of time. I knew of agents who flat out told their seller clients that they would not be doing them. I’ve never had the belief. While it was true then, and is true today, many of the people who come through open houses are not actually buyers. But I have always done them. First it shows my seller clients that I am using every tool in my tool box to get their house sold. But second, I have sold numerous houses from people who have come through my opens.
What is different today is that open houses have become way more critical. Today’s buyer is able to be very independent. Nearly everything that they need to know about a houses is available on line. They like to be in the driver’s seat and tour houses independently of their agent. Then when they find a house that they’re interested in, they get their Realtor involved.
The first weekend of marketing is a true event. The routine is to put a house on the market on Thursday or Friday, market the open house date and time for Saturday and Sunday, and then hold it open and let the hordes inside. It works!
I hope that you find this information useful. As always, thank you for reading the blotter.
Dianne