Do Open Houses REALLY Help in Selling My House?

Do open houses really help in selling my house? 

This was a great question posed in a comment on one of my recent TikTok videos, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

As an agent charged with listing a home for sale, it is my job to turn over every stone, so to speak, to find the buyer for the property. Over the last couple years, it seems like you could simply stick a For Sale sign in a yard and the home would sell in just a couple days with no other real effort. Well, I believe in doing everything possible regardless of the market because I don't want to leave anything to chance.

Marketing is a big portion of the process when putting a home up for sale. According to the National Association of Realtors, 51% of people found the home they purchased online. Naturally, a lot of marketing efforts go toward online advertising. Fish where the fish are, right?However, only 4% reported that a yard sign or open house sign is how they found the home they bought. Is it worth the effort of the open house to target a seemingly small percentage of buyers?

​Open houses by nature are what I would refer to as a marketing event. We can market the open house online, and even place advertising dollars behind it. It's another opportunity to showcase the property and attract from a pool of buyers. I like to use an open house as a reason to canvas a neighborhood, door knock, and deliver flyers/invitations to a special "Neighbor's Only" open house, an exclusive time just for the neighbors to preview the property. After all, 10% of buyers found their home through a friend, relative, or neighbor. Open houses, coupled with other efforts around it, help to activate social networks and get people talking. 

And in full transparency, open houses are a way for me (as an agent)  to connect with neighbors in the community and generate business connections as well. It's also a great opportunity to be of service to the community to talk about what's happening in the real estate market as a whole. 

As a case in point, a recent listing closed their sale to a buyer who attended an open house and submitted the winning offer. It does happen!  In my opinion, it is worth the effort as part of the larger "recipe" to sell your property.

If you're looking ahead to selling your home in the Portland, Oregon metro area in the near future and aren't sure where to begin, I'd love to connect to help you start off on the right foot. I'm Jennifer Schurter, a Realtor and expert marketer in the Portland, Oregon metro area. Let me put my 12 years of brand and media expertise to work for YOU on the sale of your home.

Jen@JenSchurter.com