An open house is the perfect opportunity to minimize the disruption to the seller’s life by combining many showings into one. This helps relieve the pressure (a little) on you to keep your house spotless for showings at a moment’s notice and allows interested house hunters the convenience of casually viewing a home without an appointment. This appeals to buyers who are looking for a home but haven’t yet gathered enough information or done enough investigation of the market to be ready to make a decision. On the psychological front, an open house can also increase competition for the home. People tend to take the old phrase, “Hurry! It won’t last long!” with a grain of salt unless they are jostling for a position to see a room with five other people crammed into a doorway. This can be a powerful motivator for an indecisive buyer to get off the fence. It can also be the starting gun of a bidding war, which can only be good for you (the seller). Before scheduling your open house, study the activities calendar of your area to avoid conflicts, such as annual festivals, holidays, or special events, to ensure there is nothing happening that could conflict with attendance and keep your targeted audience from your open house. Look for a calendar “dead spot.” If you’re using a real estate agent, they will send out an email announcement to their own private mailing list, as well as to every real estate broker and agent within the area to ensure that your open house event is publicized on all open house websites to maximize overall attendance. Your agent will also promote your open house on existing social media platforms. Social media is extremely important in real estate marketing, as most potential buyers will look at listings and open house ads online before they physically visit the home or property. If you don’t have a REALTOR® and are doing your own marketing, don’t wait until the day of the open house to throw up a couple of signs in the neighborhood or plant a sign in the yard. You must effectively
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