Grand Junction Real Estate Advice

Dave,

Do open houses really benefit sellers? Our home has been on the market for a few months and we’ve had four open houses per our realtor’s advice and still no offer! We understand that we should be as accommodating as possible if we want to get our home sold, but it’s a lot of work planning a day away from home with our three young children so an open house can happen.

Our realtor says each open house has had a lot of traffic, but just no luck on an offer! We’re starting to wonder if open houses really work to sell homes or they’re just a way for neighbors to come check out our home and compare it to theirs!

Brittany, Grand Junction

Brittany,

The age old real estate question, do open houses really work? I hear this question at virtually every appointment I go on and this is what I believe to be true about open houses. I can reiterate what you already experienced, statistically they are not effective at selling houses. A number somewhere in the vicinity of 2% of homes sold are sold as a result of an open house. If you are one of the 2% they are awesome, but if your one of the 98% they are far less awesome and quickly become very disappointing! In my opinion 2% is far too low to make it a staple of any “true” marketing plan. I understand having an open house every once in a while, however they certainly should NOT be the backbone of any marketing plan that you should take serious or think will prove very effective.

“I do not believe the open house is a necessary tool. For selling homes, a solid and consistent marketing plan is far more efficient and far more productive than having you displaced every Sunday afternoon.”

I do not believe the open house is a necessary tool. For selling homes, a solid and consistent marketing plan is far more efficient and far more productive than having you displaced every Sunday afternoon so your agent can look busy and meet new clients. With the proliferation of the internet and the amount of information at our finger tips the usefulness of the traditional open house is not what it used to be. I would not worry one bit about missing out on the Sunday open house. I am not saying it will not work, just saying that it will not work very often. Hope this helps.

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team