Open Houses - Don't Work

Here are two great articles which compound my previous blog entry about Open Houses in that they; A) don't work, and B) pose a HUGE risk for the agent or homeowner.

Here are the links, but I have pulled out the key points or excerpts from each article and copied below:

http://www.housingwatch.com/2010/05/25/open-houses-puzzle-british-home-buyers/

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108451


But do open houses actually work? There seems to be a consensus that they don't do much for the seller, except in cities such as New York, where foot traffic is high. One New York broker says she garners 50 percent to 60 percent of her sales through open houses. Brokers in other cities around the country say open houses generate less than 10 percent of their business.

Many agents now refuse to hold open houses, considering them a waste of time and a security threat. And many sellers now prefer to open their doors to serious buyers only.

"Many sellers are just a little bit leery of having an open house," says Pat Vredevoogd, agent and broker-owner of AJS Realty in Grand Rapids, Mich., and incoming NAR president. 

Some, she says, are worried about letting complete strangers roam freely through their house, with access to electronics, jewelry, prescription drugs and personal information. Others just don't want their neighbors and a host of other so-called "looky-loos" wasting their time just for a look at their décor. 

And many agents won't do them for security reasons, as a number of their fellow Realtors have been attacked and some even killed, as they sat in an empty house alone and vulnerable.