Is Hosting An Open House A Good Idea? Your Question Answered

You have taken those first major steps towards reselling your house. You have secured an excellent real estate agent, staged your house to the best of your ability, taken and uploaded incredible photos that show off all your favorite parts of the house, and listed your house everywhere buyers might see it. And they will! The digital age has made selling and buying homes more accessible than ever. 

Even still, some practices that date back before the internet are still a great idea to implement today if you want to ensure your home sells at a competitive price. One of the best tricks in the book is the open house. An open house is a scheduled event where potential buyers can stop by to visit and get a feel for the house in person.

These days, choosing to host an open house will not be what makes or breaks the sale of your home. Very few people are willing to buy a home sight unseen, but many buyers will visit with their own real estate agents according to their schedules. Those buyers likely became interested in the house through online listings, especially if you have posted professional pictures showcasing the best of the home.

So what’s the point of an open house, then?

For one thing, it signals to buyers that you are serious and that your house has what it takes to compete in the market. You can see its home value and want to share it with others. It’s almost like an open house suggests to potential buyers, “This house is so great, you’d have to see it to believe it.” Plus, an open house allows you to set your house up to offset its best assets, which you might not be able to do for buyers who are dropping in at odd times. Instead of worrying about running after a messy kid to keep your home clean for showings or adding a ton of new chores to your daily workload, you can put that effort into a single event. You can hire cleaners, stagers, and even caterers (for small refreshments) to tempt prospective buyers.

There is another benefit of putting all your effort into an open house rather than allowing buyers to drop in as needed. It takes away some of the discomfort both you and the buyer may feel about the interruption to your everyday life, especially if you’re still living in the home. Multiple people viewing at the same time will feel more comfortable, and each viewer will have the time they need to really take it all in without feeling rushed. Plus, one buyer may notice a detail that another has missed and unintentionally take on a little of the sales pitch work.

Some potential homeowners may even believe that once you announce an open house, their clock is running out. The open house may push some buyers to go ahead and make an offer immediately, just to preempt the possibility of losing their chance. It can also encourage competition, pushing your sale price higher.

The traffic you get coming in and out of a house during an open house can sometimes generate more traffic. Neighbors might want to know what is going on, passersby might be more likely to stop in, and real estate agents are unlikely to say no to a chance to mingle with a crowd of buyers they might be able to turn into clients. Even if you don’t get an offer that very day, you’ve driven up the demand for the house by allowing people in to see it. The more interested people are in the home, the faster you are likely to sell. A faster sale allows you to reduce costs, such as those for housekeeping and staging, and will allow you to take your next step sooner. 

There are some drawbacks to an open house. An open house does not guarantee a sale – in fact, only around 3% of homes sell because of an open house in and of itself. Plus, since open houses are open to just about anyone, you may get in a few people who might love to buy your home but wouldn’t qualify for a loan. However, these drawbacks may be a small price to pay, depending on how quickly you want to sell your home or how competitive a price you hope to sell it at. It may be that an open house is the very thing that will get you moving on to your next big adventure.