The Dying Art Of Open Houses
Remember the olden days when the Sunday paper would arrive and you would get out your red felt tipped marker, then circle the open houses you wanted to see?
That was so 1997….Those days are all but gone- having been replaced by the advances in internet marketing for condos. Additionally, more and more Center City Condos are forbidding agents to hold Open Houses- ever.
It is said in Real Estate circles that open houses are NOT for sellers- they are for agents trying to pick up buyers. To a degree, I agree. More so with the fact that videos, virtual tours, podcasts, blogs, multiple photos, etc are easily found with a quick Google search. And most Realtors’ websites can give you a lot more than you can learn at an open house- think neighborhood stats, crime reports, etc., not to mention the gossip and dirt you can pick up on your neighbor’s house. If someone is seriously in the market for a condo, they are going to view your listing if they are interested- Open House or not.
I usually find that Open Houses tend to cut down on the weekly traffic- the more people who see it at an open, the fewer weekly appointments one will find in terms of buyer traffic. And of course, we are all aware that Open Houses usually beget nosy neighbors, passersby, and the like. With overall traffic down on Open Houses over the past decade (in my experience)- how long before Open Houses will go the way of land lines and flip phones? Probably not long.
FYI-Center City Open Houses are usually ONE hour only- Get in, then get out. Suburban agents can spend 3-4 hours at one open house. How utterly boring. I think I’d rather drink bathwater than to sit in a house on a Sunday for four hours.
