I am still new at RE and I just had my first sale a little over a week ago, so I just would like to know a few things.

Do agents typically get buyers from open houses?

Is it likely that the buyer is going to several other agents open houses who are doing the same thing as you are?

I heard from somewhere that the open house buyer usually isn't ready to seriously look for a house to buy until about 10-12+ months.

Is that true? I hear it is from some agents at my office and it is bull from other ones.

Thanks,

I have heard that open houses mainly attract people who want to browse but aren't ready to buy. The ones who are ready to buy are looking online or have an agent searching the mls.

I have gotten many of my leads from open houses, though those were new construction. I only sold 2 in same neighborhood I was holding the open houses in. Other's bought in different neighhorhoods. (I'm not the cold-calling type)

It's my belief that if they are out looking in the winter time, they are generally more serious. Spring time they may be getting ready to move during the summer.

Pick the houses that you sit based on desirability, location and amenities, oh and of course price, especially in this market.

It is a great way to learn to build rapport with people, learn the right questions to ask and become comfortable with drawing people out and getting answers.

And, yes they are probably going to several open houses and meeting other agents. Just be the one that makes them feel comfortable talking to you, know your inventory and know the comps of the house you are sitting. They may be "interviewing" for an agent and being well informed has always worked for me.

You may try printing out a list of homes in the immediate area and offer to let them take the list with them, with your name and phone number on it of course.

Good luck!

I have had great success over the years in Open Houses. You meet both Buyers and Sellers (hint: the neighbors are potential sellers). Whether you get buyers to work with you is really a matter of how well you know the inventory in the area and what kind of communicator you are.

One thing I learned from some trainer years ago was that people love talking about themselves and they love people who listen. Don't try to sell them anything, ask them about what they want, where they live now, what their perfect home would have etc etc. Get them to relax and open up and if you find out that she wants a greenhouse and he wants a workshop and you know where they can get it, you may sell a house.

Lots of agents will tell you they don't work and are a waste of time. I have a laptop with a wireless card and I can work while I wait for prospects to show up. It keeps the Sellers happy and you can meet potential buyers and sellers. Its a no brainer. The only reason not to do it is if you have someone to show property to or a listing appointment.

Yes you can have prospects (buyers) from open house. most of the people coming to open hoses are buyers who will buy in 60 - 90 days. Most of them shopping for real estate agent or these who are ready already have one. A lot of the visitors are just noisy neighbors. So open house is good score for buyers prospects than immediate transactions.....good luck.

statistically if you did 100 opens you would sell maybe 1 house that you did an open house on to someone that came by at the open. So from that stand point they are a waste for selling agents, especially agents who don't like to work buyers because they are pretty good at getting buyer leads and some curious potential sellers. This is why listing agents or many agents in general let other people do opens for them.

Yes avarage 1 of 100 yes, I don't know where did you get this statistics but may be some of the people sell 1 of 10:-).

I've had some success in the past from open houses, but since the market has changed most people are just browsing at my open houses.

I did a three hour open house today and got two appointments out of it. One I am showing another house tomorrow and the other wants to list their house and make an offer on the house I was holding open.

My father purchased an 'open house' house. He just happen see an open house sign and went to be nosey. He fell in love and signed a contract the next day. He also used that agent to sell his other house.

I generally don't go by "statistics" because again...like real estate...everything is local.

Last year our office did over 430 open houses. Our office is also ranked #3 in our immediately market area, out of about 10 or 12 offices for sales - and our office started out brand new last January without a single pending in the drawer - brand new office. So far this year we're still right in the front....above other offices who have been here for 20 years.

Was it because of the open houses? I honestly don't know...but it sure didn't hurt. We got a lot of appointments, buyers, leads, and new listings. One of our agents sold an open house the night before the event when she went to put the sign up - the neighbor's friend was there and wanted it, made his move before the open house.

It depends on the open house. Good location, good traffic result in a lot of warm bodies walking the house. Every one of them has some interest in real estate.

Even nosy neighbors are nosy for a reason. They might be selling soon?
Open houses are worth your time generally.

I know some agents in my office who have written up offers for buyers who have come through their open house that same day. I would say this isn't the norm, but if you do let's say 1 open house a weekend and at the end of the year 2 or 3 sales resulted from that... I would say it's worth it.

But most people that come through an open house I find are still going through open houses a year later. Every now and then you will connect with a good lead from an open house.

I've held a 2-hour Open House every other Sunday since last August. Since then I have closed one transaction from a buyer I met at an Open house and have another buyer I am currently working with who decided to use me as their buyers agent. So essentially I have had 12, 2 hour Open Houses and have made $5,000 from one closed transaction w/ possibly another $4-5,000 to come. Without my Open Houses I would've missed these deals. I will put in 24 hours of Open Houses anytime for $10,000 in commissions.

If you are a new agent I would recommend doing them. Especially if you dont have that many listings. It is a great way to network and get those unrepresented potential buyers. You will know who is there to kick the tires and who is really in the market.