Is an Open House a Waste of Time? from Mike Novak on Vimeo.

Open houses have been around as long as the real estate market has. They're a classic tool that realtors have used for decades with their listings, which raises the question: with the internet and increased video and media capabilities making information readily available on every home, are open houses a waste of time?

The answer? Open houses can absolutely can be a waste of time and resources.

Now before you decide to ditch open houses completely, understand that they also can and should be a a game changer in selling your home. They're still a valuable tool when executed correctly. There are dozens of open houses in Snohomish County each week, and many of them are successful in bringing in multiple offers in just weekend. It all depends on your open house strategy.

Throwing a great open house

On the Novak team, we use open houses as a critical element of our listing marketing and sales plan. The problem that we’ve seen is that sometimes open houses are treated as a formality. The house goes on the market, so of course it should have an open house, right? While we agree that they can drive a lot of business in the first weekend, having an open house just because that’s what’s done traditionally is a waste of time. That’s what leads to the quiet, boring situations. You know, where the agents sitting in the corner and you awkwardly wander around the house?

When we throw an open house, we believe in going all out. Here are a few elements to a Novak open house (which you can also watch in the video below!):

• Build a crowd. We make sure that the listing is up on the MLS in advance of the open house, so that it gets exposure online. Once it’s there, it will get pulled onto all the websites that search the Washington state MLS (including our own), providing great online advertising. In addition to online activites, we put signs everywhere on the day of the open house. Not just one sign and balloon at the end of the street - we’re talking hundreds of signs that will be impossible to miss.

• Create an exciting atmosphere. One of the first things that buyers subconsciously notice is the vibe in the house. They instantly imagine themselves living there, and an upbeat and happy vibe will help them imagine a great lifestyle. This changes their entire perspective on the home.

• Be there to help. We send multiple agents on-site so that each potential buyer feels important and has their questions answered quickly and personably.

Fill out the form below, we would love to go over our Snohomish county home marketing and sales plan with you and talk about how we can throw a mega open house to sell your home for top dollar!