I am having an open house today (May 4, 2008, 1:00-3:00) for one of the properties that I am marketing, a 5-bedroom, 3.5 bath colonial with 3,796 SF priced at $469,000, and located at 3064 Briarwood Court in Harrisonburg, VA.

I have held several other open houses over the last few weeks, and will have another two weeks from now.

So . . . how effective are open houses? I suppose it depends on how we define effective . . .

Open houses do (unless nobody shows up) get people inside of homes who may not have viewed the home otherwise. The people who are coming through aren't always qualified to purchase the home they are viewing, and they don't always end up having interest in it, but one important step of a successful sale is to have people view the home for sale.

Open houses don't necessarily sell homes. I don't have the exact figure at hand as I am currently writing, but the research shows that only a VERY small percentage of home buyers find the home that they purchase by attending an open house.

Some Realtors see open houses as an opportunity to meet new buyer clients. I suppose that could happen from time to time, but certainly, that doesn't accomplish any of the original goals of the owner of the home.

Here are some interesting stats to consider from several recent open houses:

Property #1 -
Prior to the open house, there had been 3 showings of the property.
During the open house, 4 groups visited.

Property #2 -
Prior to the open house, there had been 7 showings of the property.
During the open house, 4 groups visited.

Property #3 -
Prior to the open house, there had been 6 showings of the property.
During the open house, 10 groups visited.

Property #4 -
Prior to the open house, there had been 2 showings of the property.
During the open house, 2 groups visited.

Property #5 -
Prior to the open house, there had been 18 showings of the property.
During the open house, 5 groups visited.

For several of these homes, the open house generated more prospective buyers inside the home than had seen it to date. However, none of these properties have sold yet, so the open houses didn't accomplish that main goal of selling the house.