Should I Host an Open House?

So you’ve decided to sell your home and buy a new one, you’ve cleaned away those pesky dust bunnies, purged last season’s collection of clothes, and thanks to our staging article, have started setting up the ideal home for just about anybody. Depending on the market, you might not be seeing very much traffic, which can be discouraging and a little nerve-wracking. At this point, you’re probably thinking ‘should I host an open house?’- here a few reasons why you should(n’t).

Whether to put on an open house can be a tough decision because opening your home to the general public seems counterintuitive. Fear of damage or theft are serious concerns for many homeowners, but there are ways to curb those risks that aren’t terribly inconvenient. For example, storing or completely removing valuables for that occasion. Pets and family members are a different story; it might be a little more challenging to find ways to host an open house if you have to worry about where the kids are going to go or what you’re going to do with Sparky.

With easy solutions to these minor inconveniences, it’s difficult to find excuses not to have one, especially when you consider how much exposure you’ll gain from just the one event. Ideally, someone will love the home and purchase it and you won’t have to keep your home ‘visitor’ ready all the time, constantly rushing home during lunch to hide your kids’ toys under pillows for random showings.

Open houses provide potential homebuyers with the unique opportunity to shop at their own leisure. Exploring the home without having a real estate agent highlighting all the features and finishes means that shoppers get a more relaxed, intimate experience with the home. They can conceptualize new decor ideas, imagine raising their families and picture their daily routines. With your agent overseeing the event, there is still an expert present that interested or curious homebuyers can address for information, but it takes on a completely different vibe. In the scenario where the event doesn’t end in selling the home, any good agent will be able to assess what went wrong and what changes could be made in order to increase the appeal of the home for the next showing.

If you’re thinking of posting a virtual tour online, just know that it doesn’t serve as a substitution for an open house. The majority of people won’t buy a new home based on online photos and a virtual tour, that’s the whole reason sales centres, model homes and presentation centres are still prevalent in the new home industry. A well produced virtual tour serves as a good tool to promote an open house or get people interested in actually touring your home.