Long-story short, open houses are for the realtors, not for selling your house. They are put on by broker agents (also known as listing agents) to meet new people in hopes of finding new potential new clients that come in without a dedicated realtor.
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According the National Associate of Realtors, who take survey from one year to the next, the data proves on both the buyers and sellers sides that open houses do little for selling a property. (Source - National Association of Realtors)
Truth is That Open Houses Are for Real Estate Agents
Real Estate Agents will often convince sellers that open houses are effective in bringing your home into a closing sale, however surveys show that less than 20% of closing sales come from an open house itself.
The majority of realtors surveyed, who host open houses, say that they do so so are to bring in prospective future clients and also to build their brand and brand recognition.
What many sellers also do not know is that just because you have made an agreement with a listing agent, they might not be the agent that is represented who hosts your open house. Often most experienced listing agent might have other, less experienced real estate agents host your open houses for them because they don't find it worth their time.
Additionally, over 54% of listing agents, who were surveyed said that they host open houses on behalf of their sellers to prove to their clients selling the house that they are working to sell the home. (Source - The Balance Small Business)
The MLS Listing Does Most of the Marketing and Selling For Your House
What listing agents don't want you to know is that just having an MLS listing for your house does the majority of the work of marketing and selling of your house when it is priced well and represented well on the MLS with professional photos, rather than the listing agent who takes the credit.
Most buyers these days go to Zillow, Realtor, Redfin, or other popular real estate websites to find their next home and these websites pull your photos and information from the MLS to post your house on their website. Prospective buyers, who find houses on these websites, then approach their buyer's real estate agent to have them tour the house. Some buyers have their realtors find houses for them and the MLS advertises to these realtors representing buyers to set up showings.
At the end of the day, your listing agent or MLS Listing Service Provider provides you, the seller, value in helping you find comps in your neighborhood to ensure that your house is priced well, and aid in reviewing the buyers' offers, and negotiate on your behalf.
Now if you are to consider shying away from a Fixed-Rate MLS Listing Provider because it doesn't provide open-house hosting services, it would not be in your best interest. Especially if the MLS Listing provider can provide you the same experience and value as a standard listing agent and save you over $10,000+ on average.
What would you do with an additional $10,000?
Say you were to want to host the open houses yourself, just because you feel that it might provide you value. Say you hosted 5 open houses, 2 hours each for a total of 10 hours. It would be like you are paying yourself $1,000 per hour to host the open houses yourself. Would it be worth it then?
If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions, you should check out Sage Real Estate Services because it can save you $1,000's of dollars while providing you an incredible way to sell your house with ease.
Open Houses Can Be a Security Risk For Your House
On a different note, by opening your house up to the public with an open house, any Joe-Schmoe can come in and tour your house. Realtors will claim that they often will have a sign in list to know who exactly is coming into your house, however, they are not ID-ing people to verify the written identity on their sign-in list is actually the name and phone number of the person signing in.
Allowing people to tour your house opens your house up for a higher chance for theft. Open house hosting realtors are not able to watch every room in your house and people touring your house have a the opportunity to peruse through your drawers and belongings if they are unsupervised.
Additionally, a person could tour your house for a later scheduled break-in because they would be able to tour your house and have a sense for the layout, the level of security you have present, and what valuables are present in your house. At a later time, they could coordinate to break into your house when you are not there.
Moreover, by having your house only seen by realtor-supervised listings/showings, the buyers that come through your home are represented by realtors, who are certified, have validated the identities of the buyers, and have made agreements with the prospective buyers that ensure the buyer can afford your house.
If you do decide to host open houses in your home, be aware of the value it provides as well as the security risks that you are putting you and family in by doing so. It is good to weigh the benefits and risks with any decision you make.
Are You Looking to Sell Your Home?
Sage is a Real Estate Listing Service Company that can help you save thousands to list your home on the MLS.
The average person saved over $15,000 by Listing With Sage.
What would you do with an extra $15,000?
Buy a Boat?
Buy A Larger House?
Pay Off Debt?
Landscape Your Next House?
Remodel a Bathroom?
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