Common Sense Real Estate
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Buyers and Sellers | 2 Posts
Curious Agents | 7 Posts
December
16
16
Are Open Houses Worth Your Time?
I have seen several agents negatively post about the effectiveness of open houses saying that they are a waste of time and only serve the agent by putting them in touch with potential new clients. While there is some truth to that, they are missing a huge component of what it means to be a professional in real estate.
The most recent NAR survey shows that about 2% of homes are sold via an open house. Here is what that looks like... an agent holds an open house, an unrepresented buyer comes through, loves the home and decides to place an offer with the agent hosting the open house.
What this doesn't account for are the buyers who already saw the home with an agent, but went through the open house a second time which solidified their decision to contact their agent and make an offer. This also doesn't account for buyers who walk through the open house for the first time, loved the home and called their agent to write an offer.
When you factor those scenarios, you are probably in the 4-5% range. That may not sound like very high percentages, but to the seller who needs to sell their home... they will take a 5% chance... especially when it is OUR JOB as agents to market the home.
The most recent NAR survey shows that about 2% of homes are sold via an open house. Here is what that looks like... an agent holds an open house, an unrepresented buyer comes through, loves the home and decides to place an offer with the agent hosting the open house.
What this doesn't account for are the buyers who already saw the home with an agent, but went through the open house a second time which solidified their decision to contact their agent and make an offer. This also doesn't account for buyers who walk through the open house for the first time, loved the home and called their agent to write an offer.
When you factor those scenarios, you are probably in the 4-5% range. That may not sound like very high percentages, but to the seller who needs to sell their home... they will take a 5% chance... especially when it is OUR JOB as agents to market the home.
What is even more interesting is that many of these same agents pay for leads... many of which have a 3-6% conversion rate. Help me understand why it is ok for an agent to pay for leads that close at 5%, but it's not ok for a seller to expect that same agent to hold an open house with a 5% chance of closing?
Lastly, being a real estate agent is as much about being there for our clients mentally and emotionally as it is strategically. Just the knowledge that their agent has done "everything" they can think of to sell their home can provide invaluable peace to a client. As an agent, by trying "everything", it also gives you leverage to be able to have difficult conversations such as price reductions. If you haven't done everything from the seller's perspective, there will almost always be pushback, and rightfully so.
I encourage agents to think beyond themselves... Take a close look at statistics, but also look at things which aren't measurable.
Lastly, being a real estate agent is as much about being there for our clients mentally and emotionally as it is strategically. Just the knowledge that their agent has done "everything" they can think of to sell their home can provide invaluable peace to a client. As an agent, by trying "everything", it also gives you leverage to be able to have difficult conversations such as price reductions. If you haven't done everything from the seller's perspective, there will almost always be pushback, and rightfully so.
I encourage agents to think beyond themselves... Take a close look at statistics, but also look at things which aren't measurable.
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