I have done a good number of open houses so far in my career as a Realtor. As such, I thought I would talk about the art of the open house and my experiences with them and why they are important. I said ‘art’ and not ‘science’ here. That’s because if there was an exact science to open houses that would yield exactly what a Realtor wants, then I think I would have clued on to it somewhat. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. But before I get into that, let me say that the open house really serves two parties:
The Client and the Realtor.
From a client perspective, doing open houses serves the following purposes:
- Opens up a channel for a possible buyer to walk through. This is the “long bomb” in terms of finding a buyer for the property. You are literally hoping that the one special buyer who is a perfect fit for the property you are doing an open house for will walk in that door. The reality is that open houses are very unlikely to attract a buyer who will be the one to purchase the property. Ask any Realtor how many times they have had this happen to them and the answer will be a very low response. Now I will tell you that I always keep an optimistic and open mind that this may happen.
- Shows the client that you are working for them. This is one of the best tools to show your client that you are actually working on their behalf – clearly spending time dedicated to their home and trying to sell it. They appreciate that. Now, I will tell you that I always provide feedback on the success of the open house and any specific information provided through the day. I don’t believe the open house is really done until I have talked with my client about how it went.
- Gain any additional home listing positioning and pricing insights.
From a Realtor perspective, doing open houses serves these purposes:
- Shows that you are working for the client.
- Lead generation. Every Realtor is hoping for visitors to come in, not have a Realtor already with them, and possibly win them over for potential business in the future. Now, I will tell you that this is like batting in the major leagues. Sometimes you bat like a second baseman at .250, a pitcher at .125, and rarely like a proven slugger at .400. Occasionally, you don’t even make it to a decimal point.
- Allows you to multitask. When I sit an open house, I often will do other work in between visitors. In fact, it’s the only way I can keep busy and occupied when the open house is slow. So, the open house can become a largely uninterrupted work session for me. I know other Realtors who read, watch television or surf the internet (if they have access).
Getting into the actual art of the open house, here are my observations on doing a good open house.
What constitutes a successful open house?
- Primarily, it’s about the volume of traffic to your listing.
- Success Metric (these numbers depend on your location but here are mine)
- Secondarily, it’s the number of leads or possible clients you capture.
Regarding traffic, here are a couple of barometers I put together.
- Open House Traffic – Measure of Success
- Poor – 1 to 3 groupings of visitors
- Good – 4 to 7 groupings of visitors
- Great – 8 to 12 groupings of visitors
- Fantastic – 13+ groupings of visitors
Now, overall location makes a big difference here as does saturation. Tempe homes get more traffic than Chandler homes or Ahwatukee homes and other cities in my experience. Specific communities might get more traffic such as Glendale’s Arrowhead Ranch. Generally, the farther out of the property, the less likely traffic seen. Queen Creek homes or Avondale homes may not experience much traffic at all during an open house. The more saturated a community is with homes for sale, the less likely visitors you will get. Now, experiences will vary based on many factors but this is more my experience.
In today’s market, it is unlikely to draw in that many visitors without the property being a foreclosure with plenty of signage. Usually, normal open houses right now run from “Poor” to “Good” where foreclosures run from “Great” to “Excellent.” That tells you what consumers are paying attention to.
Stay tuned for The Art of the Open House: Part II.
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