You may find yourself asking whether or not doing an open house is worth it. And the answer is no! Plain and simple. Why you ask? Well, 1.We’re in the middle of a pandemic and we don’t want random strangers who aren’t qualified walking through your home and 2. open houses don’t work.
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We’re in a pandemic
Buyers agents right now are required to fill out a covid disclosure prior to every showing. This lets the sellers and sellers agent know that the buyer and their agent have not travelled out of the country, have not come into contact with anyone and are not showing symptoms. It also acts as contact tracing. God forbid there was an active case, or some exposure, everyone can be contacted to isolate or get tested.
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If you’re hosting an open house, you don’t know the people who are coming through your home. You don’t know where they’ve been. Who they’ve seen. What they’ve touched to get there (TTC) or a number of other variables that could put you at risk. You also don’t know if they’re qualified or verified. I mean, I’m sure we’re all guilty of giving a fake name (like… do you really think Rob Kardashian is shopping for a home in Leaside?)
An open house doesn’t work
Now, bleeding into my second point…open houses literally don’t sell homes. They sell agents. The National Association of Realtors has stated that less than 3% of buyers come from an open house.
Think about it. There are 60,000 agents in Toronto. You’re bound to know at least one realtor in your social circle and if you’re interested in that property, you’re making a phone call to someone you trust and not a random realtor sitting in the home.
So, gone are the days of unrepresented buyers walking into a home on a Saturday afternoon to browse your property. Open houses are for the realtors to sell their services to prospective (unrepresented) buyers or neighbours also looking to sell.
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Takeaways
If your realtor is pushing an open house on you, take a moment to question their motives.
Because there are 100 other ways I can think of to better market your home (online) than sitting in your living room from 2-4 on a Saturday afternoon handing out “freshly baked” cookies.
