Open houses as selling tool, Yardley, Newtown, Bucks County, Pa.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZPWyQtbslY[/youtube]I saw a video the other day, done by a local agent, promoting all the reasons that sellers should hold open houses, as an effective marketing tool.
I was asked to do a video that explains the real reasons that agents hold open houses, and to explain why I generally do not think that they are very effective, as a marketing tool.
If agents were honest with sellers, they would explain that the real reason agents want to hold open houses, is in hopes of attracting buyers who are not otherwise working with a realtor. The agent sitting the open house, then has an opportunity of selling that buyer, something else. My feeling is that the seller has hired me, to get their house sold for the highest possible price, in the shortest amount of time, and with as little inconvenience to the seller as possible. The seller has not hired me to use their home as a tool to attract additional business. If you don’t believe this is true, stop into any real estate office during the week, and listen to agents offering to sit open houses, because they need business. The number of times that a buyer acutally buys the house they came to see, is extremely small.
An open house is the most passive type of marketing. Agents put a sign in the ground, and hope warm bodies show up.
Real important question; how do you know whether the people who show up are qualified? I find that buyers who wander aimlessly from open house to open house, tend to be the least motivated buyers. I feel that I have an obligation to the sellers whom I represent, to ensure that every person who steps into their house, is qualified.
I have also seen open houses, where there are sets of people wandering through the house, many times with kids, totally unsupervised. The realtor sitting the open house is really only able to help one person at a time. I don’t think I represent sellers interests very effectively, when groups of people whom I don’t know, and whom we really don’t know their qualifications to be in the house at all, are allowed to wander through my sellers house, alone.
I believe in pro-active marketing. Open houses are very traditional, and very passive. I think the best marketing strategy in today’s enviornment, requires professional photography, a massive on-line pressence to as many websites as possible, virtual tours, video as well as the use of social networking exposure, and direct communication to other real estate professionals.
I welcome your thoughts and comments about open houses.
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