Once upon a time, the best way to sell your home was an open house. It was understood that if you planned to sell your house, you needed to allow a parade of strangers into the property. Thankfully, that may no longer be the case. In fact, if you rely on open houses to sell your property, you may be disappointed. Just 4% of home buyers in 2020 said the first thing they did in their home search was go to an open house. Only 6% of buyers said they found their home by driving past an open house sign.
More and more people are using online apps to find houses and requesting a private showing. Not only does this give the potential buyer a one-on-one experience with their realtor and the property, but they don’t have to feel intimidated by other eager buyers. Could relying on open houses actually hurt your chances of selling a home? Yes. Read on to learn more.
4 reasons open houses are not as effective as private showings
- You might attract more looky-loos than serious buyers
If someone sees your property online and requests a showing, you know they’re serious about putting in an offer. Open houses are not so simple. Many neighbors, friends, and people who want to connect with your Realtor will stop in. You may end up thinking you had a successful, packed open house… and getting zero offers. Relying on open houses could make you over confidant. - Open houses take time to set up
Open houses also require a lot of clean-up before and after. Plus, your agent will want to put out refreshments. Private showings also require some cleaning, but you’re not left with as many footprints and crumbs. You may also need to rely on street signs to attract visitors to your open house. As we mentioned above, this is not a particularly effective tactic. - You’re not appealing to all online shoppers
44% of all home buyers look online as their first step in the buying process. You can certainly advertise your open house on a Zillow profile, but that may seem too old fashioned to younger buyers. Busy people want to see your home on-demand, and waiting until the next open house won’t appeal to them. Younger buyers are especially disinterested in competitive open houses. If you’re trying to sell to a younger crowd, you’re probably better served to strictly focus your energy on setting up a killer online profile for your property and showing the home to interested people on a private basis. - Everyone is not on your schedule.
You should also remember that open houses can be restrictive based on buyers’ schedules. Some people work or travel on the weekend and would rather tour your home on a Wednesday evening. It would be a shame to miss out on the perfect buyer because they’re not available next Saturday between 10-2. Private showings require you to be more flexible, it’s true, but flexibility could pay off big time in the long run.
If you’re trying to sell your home using open houses and striking out, consider selling to an all-cash buyer. California Family Homebuyers purchases homes in and around Sacramento in all sorts of conditions. Give us a call today to see if we can help!