Ok – so you’ve most often heard that Open Houses don’t work to sell a home, they only help the realtor find other contacts.

Well, I beg to differ. I, myself, have found buyers at Open Houses to buy the property at which I was hosting the Open house. So have other sales people I know.

The fact is, I haven’t met one person who walked into an Open House and said “ Hi. I’m wondering if there’s a realtor around here somewhere. I need to find one.” Joke? OK, so they really wouldn’t say that, BUT – they’ve come into the house to see if it is of interest for themselves or for someone they know. People have far too much going on to spend time browsing Open Houses aimlessly. Just like showing your home by appointment, the prospective buyer is going to be interested or not, but they won’t know that without having a look. Most people go through Open Houses because they truly are looking for property and an Open House offers them a “spur of the moment” opportunity with no scheduling necessary. It’s convenient. It’s just that simple.

And the proverbial nosey neighbour? Well – haven’t seen too much of him either. Trust me. People just don’t find each other all that intriguing that they can’t wait for an opportunity to get into your personal space without you knowing it. Besides, anyone who is motivated thus would probably rather keep his know-it-all opinion intact by not witnessing anything to the contrary, so he doesn’t show up.

Got a Realtor telling you Open Houses don’t work? That’s because they don’t want to do one.