When most REALTORS take a listing you can pretty much guarantee that the client is going to ask if the agent will host an Open House.  One reason they ask is curiosity, another is insistence and lastly there is conventional wisdom.  A lot of homeowners think selling a house and an Open House go hand in hand; mostly attributed to the convenient truth that it will bring a handful of buyers fighting over each other to make an offer.

My answer to this question is the infamous Real Estate answer “it depends”.  It depends on what part of the country you are in (some parts open houses are more prevalent), it depends on the neighborhood, it depends if it is currently a seller’s market and it depends on many other factors that you wouldn’t even think would matter, but do.  I am in the Raleigh/Cary NC market and from my experience Open Houses for the most part are not that productive for the homeowners.  Chances are that the ones that come through that door are a curious neighbor, a REALTOR checking it out or maybe a potential buyer.  But in my experience it has been me reading a newspaper.  Now you may have other agents whispering now that you have to market it correctly ect. ect. ect.  This is a major part of hosting an Open House, but again this does not guarantee people will come because…..everyone say together…it depends on many factors.  In my opinion the way to get your home sold is for your REALTOR to market it to other REALTORS that have buyers looking for that style, price, ect.  Most listing agents don’t actually bring you a buyer, they bring you a REALTOR that has a buyer.  I hope this helps and for more information you can visit me here.