Posted on: Friday, May 28, 2004

Not all real estate agents find open houses useful

By Ken Berzof
Gannett news service

An open house might be a great way to celebrate a graduation or softball championship, but it's not always the best way to sell a house. Many agents do not depend on open houses to seal a deal.

"I don't like them," said Michael Logsdon, a real estate agent for RE/MAX Real Estate Center in Crestwood, Ky. "To me, an open house is for people who don't have anything to do on a Sunday and are just out window-shopping. If people like a house, they will call the agent."

Generally, open houses are weekend traditions. They can have a lot to offer — fact sheets, decorating ideas and perhaps freshly baked cookies to whet one's appetite for changing the "For Sale" sign on the lawn to "Sold."

"I don't think they're very effective," said Logsdon, who has worked in real estate for more than 15 years. "People are so computer-savvy these days and have access to information. They can see a house and not wait until Sunday. And if it's a good house, in a good market, it's not going to be there on Sunday."

He said he thinks it's more effective when buyers network with agents who can arrange for private showings.

But real estate agent Linda Gibson Cecil thinks open houses do serve a purpose, even though "a low percentage of sales are actually derived from an open house."

"It's not the best way to sell a home," she said, "but it's a good way to sell a home."

It's also a good way "to see what's out there," said homebuyer Bob Beatty, who was seeking a home for his family that also would have a separate area for his father, who is moving to the Louisville, Ky., area from Kansas City.

"It's like shopping for a used car," Beatty said. "I like to shop when no one's around. Sometimes, Realtors show you what they want you to see. With an open house, I can stop and see what I want to see, with my own game plan."

If open houses are not considered sure-fire deal clinchers, why have them?

"It's a good way to let people know what's in the house," said Sandy Cambron, an agent for RE/MAX Elite who works with her daughter, Candy Napper, as a team.

"Buyers will stop by, and go home and think about it. ... We do it to please our sellers, and let them know that we're working for them."

Cecil noted that there is more than one way to sell a house.

"You can't depend on just the Multiple Listing Service," she said. "An open house is just another marketing tool. Even though it's a low percentage, it still takes just one buyer to make a sale, and you don't know where that buyer will come from."

If you're trying to sell your house without a real estate agent, and want to have an open house, the National Association of Realtors offers these suggestions:

• Advertise, ideally both the weekend before and the weekend of the open house.

Check with the newspaper for its ad deadlines.

• Create a property summary sheet to give prospective buyers an overview of your home.

Include dimensions for each room, copies of a property survey, summaries of utility costs and property taxes, and a list of when capital items, such as roofs and furnaces, were added or repaired.

• Have a sign-in form for prospects' addresses. Ideally you'll want phone numbers as well as e-mail addresses to follow up with prospective buyers.

• One or two days before the open house, place directional signs at major intersections within three to four blocks of your house.