I am asked at almost every listing appointment I go on how many open houses I plan to have. Most sellers are surprised when I tell them that I don't hold traditional open houses at all. I then go on to tell them I wouldn't want to put them or their home through all that for mostly my benefit. Do agents sell the homes that they hold open house for to people attending the open house? I am sure that it does happen. Would that same buyer have bought the home even without an open house? Probably. Buying a house is not an "impulse purchase".
Traditional open houses are great for agents looking for buyers leads. It used to be the number 1 way of finding buyers. But things have changed. The internet is where buyers are going and I want to have my listings as "Virtual Open Houses" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Between having virtual tours, multiple photos (25-50), plat drawings of the lot and soon, floor plans of each of my listings posted on the internet, I believe that both my time and yours is better spent leveraging the most powerful tool available today to market your home.
Research by REALTOR® Magazine Online reports that “while 80 percent of home buyers use the Web to search for properties, only 42 percent visited open houses last year”. They also reported “serious buyers tend to view properties online and make appointments to tour the specific properties that truly spark their interest”.
While an open house make’s it look like the agent is working hard for the seller, in most cases, it will only benefit the agent with new buyers leads. I want to sell your house, not use it to generate buyers leads. If you are ready to sell your house, let me show you how marketing on the internet will get thousands of people touring your home in a “Virtual Open House” every week, not just a few between 2 and 4 on Sunday.
Michael Bradford
770-862-8002
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