Are Open Houses Valuable When It Comes to Selling Your Home?

There was a time when hosting an open house was just a forgone conclusion. If you were going to sell a home, you had to have open houses and that was just that. However, times have changed and so have buyers’ expectations.

Can’t Buyers See It All Online?

This is probably the most common question we get when we’re discussing the option of hosting open houses. The answer is technically, yes. We can provide plenty of photos and even very comprehensive virtual tours online. So, if buyer’s have already found your home and want to schedule a viewing, they are not likely to be the ones you will attract with an open house.

On the other hand, buyers who are searching for homes within specific areas are likely to try to see multiple houses in one weekend via open houses – this is doubly true if they are shopping from out of town (and triply so for 3 day weekends). This allows them to narrow down some options on their own time without having to schedule appointments with either their agent, or yours.

Open Houses Aren’t Right for Everyone

Some studies that are cited regularly have shown that homes that have hosted at least one open house have sold faster and for more than those that didn’t. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine if that is a direct result of the open house or not. Not every home is a good fit for the open house model. For one thing, you must have the ability to have your home looking magazine ready.  Then be able to clear your family – including pets – out for most of one weekend day.

If your home will be vacant the best way to present it during an open house may be to have it professionally staged. There are upsides to doing this with a vacant home whether you decide to have an open house or not – read more about that here.

We always address this issue on a case-by-case basis with our clients. There is no one correct answer with this question. If you would like to go over the options, let us know. We’re here to help! In general, though, open houses win out in the cost/benefit analysis of things. That is to say that it costs very little over what you would need to already be doing to have your home ready to show – at least for most properties. Therefore, most sellers feel like the small concessions they would need to make are worth it.