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.

I represent 2 residential developments where 1 has a model open 7 days a week and the other is open just weekends so open houses have been a way of life for me for a long time. Open houses work in my area (mainly waterfront second homes) and I have newbies along with seasoned, successful Realtors on my project team.

I have volunteered to do Open Houses for other agents and have them all month this month and on doing as many as possible. For just that very reason. I am very new, with not even a first listing yet, but am anxious to start networking and meeting people.

I hope, the other agents have agreed to compensate you in the event you sell their listing and that your broker is fully aware of the compensation agreed to.

Most broker's hope to avoid any misunderstanding regarding compensation among his/her agents as it will pollute the office atmosphere.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .

^^That's the way our office runs it - if you do an open house and sell the house, you get the full co-broke commission.

My experience with open houses has always been pretty good when it comes to finding buyers. It does not happen at every one, but I have gotten at least one of my current buyers from an open house I held recently.

The bottom line is that holding an open house is going to do more for our business than watching the game. Do SOMETHING is going to be better than doing NOTHING!

R

I've had some good success with open houses and usually do 2 a month. The key is to try to do open houses in a price range that will attract a large amount of buyers.

To get people to our open houses, we advertise them in the local paper a few days before Sunday. We also have it advertised on all our websites including our broker's website. Some agents will send out postcards to the neighbors advertising the open house (we don't do that). We put an "open house" sign rider on the broker sign in front of the house a week before the open house date. We also put up directional signs leading people to the open house.

I have a buyer's kit that I give a way to anyone who I feel I can latch on to. I also have my laptop with me and hook up my treo 700 cell phone for internet access. I can search the MLS right in front of the customer at the open house. If we see something interesting, I make an appointment to show it that day or the next day.

In fact, last week a buyer came to my open house, I did a search on my laptop for other houses that fit her needs, and we went to see one when my open house was over.

I hold open houses to sell the product that I am having open and if something else comes out of it then that is great. If a potential buyer wants to talk to me in detail about other properties (which I do get MANY calls later) they can give me a call or meet me at a later time...most buyers at opens have already been to a few that day and have heard a few pitches already...dare to be different...it sometimes works.

BINGO Summer!

I hold open houses for 4 reasons, two of which are critical...

1. To make my seller happy
2. To gather feedback on the house for my seller
3. To get to know the house better myself
4. And of course, to sell the house

Prospecting for new clients isn't even on my list, although it occasionally happens. I don't ask for sign-in's or contact information unless someone specifically asks me for information. It's amazing how many people WILL if they don't get your sales pich!

^ I always get names and numbers - I don't care if it makes them mad.

When they get in a snit about it I ask "Would you want unknown strangers in your home when it's for sale? What if something is broken or turns up missing? Wouldn't you want to know who was in your home that day? Of course you would. Please sign the registry or you may come back for a private tour with me or your Realtor on another day - thanks."

Artiste - Wow - does this approach win you many friends? Not to be snitty - but if an agent holding an open house snottily implied that I might steal something from a home, just because I didn't want to be added to her mailing list, I'd turn around and walk out. Which certainly is NOT a benefit to my seller.

If they're going to kick up a fit over something simple like that, then I don't want to be their friend. It's not a mailing list per se, it's a record of who was in the home.

I hope nothing turns up damaged or lost in your open house cuz then you get to say "Gee, Mr & Mrs Seller, I don't know who was in here today." and they get to say "Every other agent in town is keeping records, where are yours?" and then you get to say "I was more concerned with making friends with these con-artists than I cared about your home security."

I can see your point, Artiste - but how do we even know that people are truthful when they sign in? Do you ask for ID? (not being snotty, seriously asking.)

the real reason why an agent has a sign in sheet is to collect leads.


the truth about open houses are that they are a one line part in a listing presentation meant to make sellers feel good. instead of telling people what they want to hear, tell them what they need to hear. if a seller requested that i put their house in every local paper in my state would i do it to apease them? no! i would explain the truth about newspaper advertisements and who they really benefit. if the seller wanted to run them, i would let them and offer exclusive agency at a higher commission split.

statistically an open house benefits the agent with buyer leads.


if you read the forums, you will notice that agnets will talk about holding open houses to get buyer leads. they dont talk about holding open houses to actually sell the house you are holding open.

We agree that it's rare to sell a home at an open house (even though I did and my mom bought hers at an OH, but still.)

I don't card ppl at the door and if they use a fake name then they use a fake name - but before they do the bad people will balk & argue. Not just "bad" as in the "I'm casing the joint" bad, but also "bad" as in "I'm an a-hole and I'm going to argue with you and demand that I get to walk around in here!"

So what are the odd the snit-fitters are going to buy the home?
If you said "Zero" I think you're right.

What are the odd that they'll become your buyer-client?
Zero

So forget them - they're not worth it - they're bad, they have bad intentions, their behavior is bad, their attitude is bad and they'll not be your client, so why care if they walk?

Even Brian Buffini tells us to kick those ppl to the curb with a hearty "Buh BYE!"

It's my open house and it's my rule - if they don't like it then they can come back later with me or their Realtor - we know they won't.

So far in my very short career I have sat for two open houses. Neither one proved fruitful. One was a 179,000 and the other 415,000. Both produced two different couples all of which were "just looking."
I still plan on doing more, these were just not very productive open houses. I can only hope that they ALL won't be that way.

OK Open house is a good source to get leads. I have buyers and listings from Open house. Usually people who visit open house are not ready to bay in close 60 - 90 days, looking for a year, noisy neighbors, but are very rarely to sell the same house you hold open to somebody who visits it.

Hey how come the "property virgins", and "buy me sell there" "curb appeal" etc.... sell their clients properties at open houses???

I think it's important to ask people to sign in. I have cards they fill out. Otherwise, with a list, someone just scribbles their name, everyone else follows suit. It is someone's HOME and I don't believe it's rude to ask for this information. It's important to show those who visits that their are agents who are serious about our job. If they decide to list their home at some point I'm sure THEY'D like to know who came in.

I think this is just the flip side of buyers who tell me they don't need to give me a prequal letter because "they have the money". Neither I nor the seller know them from a hole in the ground.

I've never had a problem with getting this info at an open, and I send a thank you note. I once had another agent do an open for me. At the end, the homeowner came back, and then someone came to the door and she didn't let them in because they would not give her that info. The homeowner wrote a nice letter to our broker saying it was nice to know we did some form of screening before we let people in. Where I am we have many multimillion dollar homes, and those agents ask to see drivers licenses! I've been in some Hampton offices where if someone calls to see rentals, the agent takes their social security numbers! And the customers give it.

I've done it 3 times in the past 2 years. And sometimes the neighbors know someone who wants to buy in their neighborhood.

Very true. Another agent did an open at an empty house. A group came and didn't want to give any names. They said they were just taking a walk and wanted to look around. After they gave names (fake or not who knows) they proceeded to pick the house apart with criticism.

Because these are fake T.V. shows with actors.

I attended a realty security training and we were instructed to post a sign outside the house stating that everyone would be required to sign in and show ID. This was for 2 reasons, in case something was stolen and to protect the agent (sitting alone in an empty house) from being attacked. I guess the idea is that if someone was up to no good, they would not be interested in showing ID.

After having this training, I have still only asked people to sign in.

Open house safety - pepper spray, mace, concealed carry. Keep back to the wall at all times, don't get cornered, portable video surveillance.

Sign in sheets are like locks on doors. They keep honest people honest.

We have a warning code in the office is somebody is in trouble.

that's a bit much...I understand the reasoning, but knowing how protective people are about their identity and ssn, I could see if that approach no longer worked for them...

If I were asked to give my social security number, I would leave.

Copy the drivers license, at least you have something physical to copy. Most people don't carry a social security card and can just spout off any list of 9 numbers.

Think social marketing and that way you will get the concept of 'open house'. Sure there may be a few people out there who will come in just because they are nosy or they come for the free food. But you will have to put up with them, for as soon as a crowd develops, you will get quite a few prospective buyers wandering in. Good luck!


Best Florida Vacation Rentals deals.
Best Daytona Beach Rentals deals.

There are ways to do them well and ways for them to be a total waste of time.

For one, you need to enjoy having an open house. Enjoying it is half the battle right there.

Next, you have to make sure the open house is marketed properly -invitations, neighbors notified, internet listings (on multiple sites - not just the brokers) and a newspaper ad (again - hopefully on a newspaper that also advertises on the internet)

After that, it's all about being able to talk to the people at the open house - to know what to say to them and what questions to ask so you set yourself apart from the rest.

Then it's all about follow-up

For some people it works, for others it doesn't...

I found networking as a whole to be far more time concious and more effective.

If you are going to do an open house, do it right. Start your marketing for it a couple weeks in advance.

When in doubt, do four open houses a weekend, 12-2 PM and 2:30-4:30 PM both Saturday and Sunday.

You will find some serious buyers at these opens. Be patient and persistent!