What is an open house? An open house is a way for real estate agents to show a home that is on the market. If you are in the process of looking for a home, you should start thinking about attending open...
If you are in the process of looking for a home, you should start thinking about attending open houses. An open house is where the seller of a home allows the public to walk through and view the property. Open houses allow prospective buyers to look at homes in a casual, low-pressure environment. These showings give buyers a chance to see if a house is worth further consideration. If so, they can request a second, more formal showing at a later time. If they do not like what they see, they can simply leave and start looking elsewhere. Sellers and agents also like open houses because they allow them to show the home to a wide range of potential buyers in a short period of time. It also helps them see how much interest is in the property, which helps them decide what they should sell it for. They also get a chance to size up the competition from other houses that are for sale in the neighborhood.
Richard Fryer is the president of IFEC Real Estate School and has over 30 years of experience in the field. He goes into further detail about the importance of the open house:
"Open house is where basically we stage the property. We usually get the sellers to go to the movies or go somewhere, and we go in and we try to make sure that they have got the garage clean and neat so that we can open the garage doors. We want to make sure that the lighting is on in the house to show it in its best light. We want to make sure that we have the house neat and clean. The object of an open house is to bring prospective buyers in I might be holding a house open on one side of the neighborhood and somebody else will hold one open on the other side, and they have a buyer come in and didn't like that house and they bring them over to the one I am holding open and we sell the one I am holding open. So sometimes that happens, but the real purpose is to try and get buyers into the house, service the listing, assure the seller that we're doing everything we can within our power to maximize the traffic. It's a numbers game; the more people we get through a piece of property in shorter period of time, the quicker we will sell it."
While buyers can attend an open house with no obligation, there are a few things you want to keep in mind if you are thinking about attending. When signing in, make sure you do so under your agent's name. This is important because if you sign in under your own name, the listing agent can claim you as a client, forcing you to work with him or her in the event you decide you are interested in the property. It is also important to keep your comments and feelings about the property to yourself. Do not discuss the home with others who are in attendance and do not tell the seller or the listing agent that you are interested in the home. Tell your agent instead, and he or she can arrange a second showing for you.
