Last Wednesday one of our agents participated in a neighborhood open house in the River Reach at Remley’s Point neighborhood. He  had the Dunes Properties  listing at  120 Wando Reach Ct.  open for viewing

120 Wando Reach  Mount PleasantThe same day as that open house, I read a blog on the real estate site Active Rain written by an agent in another state about how open houses are a waste of time and don’t sell the homes . Of course her post got me thinking.

Honestly, yes, most of the time an open house does not sell the property that is “open.” However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea to have one.  I can think of several reasons why you may want to sit down with your listing agent and plan on having an open house.

  1. It gives the curious neighbors a chance to be looky loos. And who knows, maybe one of them has a family member or friend they want to live nearby and will talk up your house to them.
  2. There are many potential home buyers who may be unsure if they are interested and do not want to take up an agent’s time to show them a house they are waffling over. This gives them a chance to see the home firsthand without any pressure and decide if they want to proceed with making an offer or  setting up a second showing for the home.
  3. Agents will do what we call a “caravan” and line up several nearby open houses over the span of a few hours and serve light food or offer a giveaway incentive (think gift card, gas card, cash drawing) to encourage other agents to view the home. This makes sure agents are familiar with the home and if they speak with a client who might be interested, they’ll be more inclined to remember the home and talk to their clients about it.
  4. Showing appointments can be a drain on you and your family’s time. If you find you are getting too frequent showing requests (which really is a good thing if you want to sell!) an open house may be a chance to lessen the number of showings.
  5. If your home has really unique features or word of mouth press in the community, there may be people who want to view it but have no interest in purchasing it or any other home. Having an open house may reduce those gratuitous showings.

Is an open house guaranteed to sell your home? No. Is an open house for every seller? Again, no. Have a conversation with your listing agent about the possible pros and cons for you.