Open Houses

A few questions about open houses. As a buyer, is it a good idea for me to visit open houses? As a seller, is having my home open as an open house the right thing? As a Realtor, should I encourage clients to have open houses?

As a buyer, is it a good idea for me to visit open houses?
Well, it depends no if you mean you are driving by an area or neighborhood you are already interested in and you see an open house sign should you go in? YES! Any new information you can collect about what is on the market is valuable. What I don't recommend is driving about looking for open house signs or looking at the ads in the paper and driving all over creation without qualifying the property at all. You have no idea of price or condition from an ad. Thats what your real estate agent is for! Then you can view the properties that match your criteria and on your schedule.

As a seller, is having my home open a good idea?
Well, statistically speaking, the odds of selling your home during an open house is slim. But it does happen, and if your agent wants to sell your home he will do everything possible to get it as much exposure as they can. Important points to remember when listing your home is that less is more (so it shows spacious and clean) and always remove any valuables or items of sentimental value.

As a Realtor, should I encourage clients to have open houses?
Absolutely! For two reasons. One, as an agent you want as much exposure as possible for your clients home. One never knows where that potential buyer is or how they will find your listing. The second reason is gathering leads. Once the neighborhood lookie-loo's have seen the house, what you will be getting are people that are at least thinking of buying and probably dont have an agent (and if they do, where is he if they are going to open houses?)