Both Realtors and clients alike have been engrained with the idea that Open Houses are a must when it comes to selling your home. But the stats just don’t back it up. In fact, studies show less than 3% of buyers purchased as a result of an Open House. “Buyers” do in fact tour open houses in between their trip to Home Depot and the grocery store each weekend. Maybe pop in for a little lookie-loo and a donut hole (gosh that sounds like a sweet little Sunday!). But 9.99 times out of 10 they are not qualified buyers, working with a Realtor, prepared to make an offer on a house today.

Realtors benefit because they have the opportunity to showcase their listing, and get to know potential buyers that may be interested in hiring them in the future. But you as the seller will have extra foot traffic through your home, on your carpets, looking through your belongings with little to no upside to you. We do however, recommend that our sellers visit open houses in their neighborhood to get a feel for the competition. Do your neighbors have a better kitchen layout than you do? More updated finishes? How does your price stack up? Open Houses serve as a great educator for comps!

So. To host an open house, or not to host? For us, we’d rather spare our clients the headache and focus our marketing efforts elsewhere to drive real, qualified buyers to set actual showings for the property. What has your experience been? Do you like to head to Open Houses on the weekend?