Have you noticed fewer and fewer Sunday Open House signs in Delaware County in recent months? I don’t seem to see as many as I used to a few years ago. This Sunday, Real Living HER was holding a “SUPER SUNDAY” ad campaign. Generally, that causes many HER agents to sign up their sellers for an open house to appear in the full page office ad.
I decided to check to see if it was my imagination or “for real” that fewer open houses were being scheduled. I checked the Real Living Open House search page for several different suburbs. Guess what! It wasn’t my imagination.
For Galena and Lewis Center there were NO scheduled open houses. Delaware and Sunbury each had ONE open house scheduled. For Powell, only 5 open houses were scheduled. That’s a total of only 7 homes in southern Delaware County! Amazing!
Franklin County suburbs are still doing open houses, but I’ll bet it’s fewer than in the past: Hilliard – 15 homes, Dublin – 12 homes, Westerville – 8 homes, Upper Arlington – 8 homes, Worthington – 3 homes, Clintonville – 2 homes, and New Albany – 2 homes. That’s a total of 50 homes for these 7 suburbs. Quite a difference from Delaware County.
Why are fewer Open Houses being held now?
There may be several factors coming in to play. While I’m only surmising here, I suspect technology and security are strong contributors. Current market dynamics may also be a factor.
TECHNOLOGY
With most Internet sites allowing us to post up to 25 photos, sellers are beginning to tell their listing agent that a buyer can view the home online and if interested, set up a showing with their (buyer) agent. This ensures the seller that only legitimate, pre-approved buyers are walking through their home. Numerous agents have stopped doing open houses for this reason. We used to be able to only put 6 photos online so it was much more important for the buyer to see the home in person and hopefully, fall in love with it.
SECURITY
Security concerns not only for the seller’s possessions but also for the agent, have become more prevalent. We have no way of knowing anything about the people walking through the front door. They can be a sweet couple or they could be a thieving tag team or a serial rapist. Our MLS system advises us with crime alerts and that’s why we take safety classes. Vacant homes are especially risky because “bad people” know that no seller will be returning home at the close of the open house. Agents and sellers alike may feel that the chance that the home will actually sell as a result of an open house is too small considering the risks associated with it.
MARKET DYNAMICS
First of all, for any given home, there are simply fewer buyers which can equal fewer open house guests (if any) which equals a waste of an agent’s time and needless hassle for the seller. Sometimes the guests have their current home on the market and are out looking while their own home is held open, but until their current home goes into contract, they really can’t act on buying a new home. In past years, these people could put a “contingent-escape” offer on a home and stand a pretty decent chance of having their current home sell in rather short order. Not so anymore. We’re seeing very few CE offers being accepted by sellers. Another type of guest are those people who are simply curious or “thinking” about putting their home on the market. They aren’t yet a serious buyer because they don’t yet have their current home on the market. So of all the guests that might visit the open house, very few are in a position to actually buy it, and those buyers can easily set up with their agent to view it through normal showing procedures.
I have always enjoyed doing open houses and have had my listings sell as a result of the open house. I like chatting with people (no surprise there 
) and hearing their perceptions/comments about the home. That’s always helpful information to give to a seller. However, since I take LOTS of photos and they’re available on MANY Internet sites, I’m beginning to question whether the security issues for my sellers is worth the risk.
If you have a different opinion or want to provide further insight, please feel free to leave your comment. What’s YOUR opinion on the value to sellers of holding open houses?
EDITED: To make sure this wasn’t just a Real Living HER occurrence, I also checked Coldwell Banker KT open houses from their web site. For the same 12 suburbs, only 18 open houses were scheduled. So it appears CBKT agents are also pulling back on doing open houses.
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