It’s obviously a Sunday afternoon in Maryland because Open House signs (some of which are decorated with balloons, flags, and reflectors) are posted on all of the street corners.

With all of the hoopla made about holding an open house, does anyone ask if that is really the way homes are sold?  If you watch HGTV on Sunday evening, you would certainly think so.  In fact, the program, Designed to Sell, is all about fixing up the home in time for the Open House.

The truth is that the odds of selling your home through an open house are similar to your odds of winning the lottery; however, it seems that many sellers believe that holding the house open is the key to getting it sold.

Before the advent of the internet, this method of attracting buyers to a home was somewhat effective.  Potential home buyers who were not working with a realtor had to drive through neighborhoods looking for an open house in order to determine whether or not they had any interest in it.  Now that detailed home descriptions and photos of the home’s interior and exterior can be seen on-line, serious buyers are working with agents who make appointments to view the home.  Furthermore, buyers eliminate homes from their list and choose homes to see by looking at the listings on the internet.

Knowing this, why are realtors still holding open houses?  Two reasons: 1) the realtor wants to prove that he is doing everything possible to sell the house even though he knows that this isn’t a highly effective method, and 2) the realtor will use the open house as a prospecting tool to obtain new clients.

This doesn’t mean that a house never sells because of an open house; it just doesn’t happen very often.

Homeowners who decide to hold an open house should also be alerted to the fact that the people coming into the home are usually not pre-approved or qualified in any way and  may not be potential buyers at all, but rather neighbors, or thieves.

So, is holding an open house worth it?  We still buy lottery tickets every once in a while.  If you decide that you want your realtor to hold an open house, be sure to discuss the procedures and safeguards that will be in place to reduce your level of risk.

Wishing you peace, love, and sunshine everyday!
Jeri