When selling your home, an open house is usually a typical part of the process. This is your chance to show off your home in its best light to as many people as possible within a short time frame. An open house usually occurs the weekend after listing your property, to generate interest right out of the gate.
Sometimes, you get offers at that first open house; other times, it takes subsequent open houses to finally get an offer you want to accept. As a seller, here’s what you should expect during an open house:
What Happens During an Open House?
During an open house, homeowners, with the help of their real estate agents, make the property available to the general public. This is done to attract more potential buyers and to sell the house at a competitive price.
Potential buyers are given a chance to view the home, interact with its finishes and furnishings, ask questions, and more – all in an effort to see if your home is the right one for them.
An open house is hosted by the listing agent, whose job it is to represent you as the seller. The agent will show visitors around the house, point out the highlights, and answer questions about the home’s history, condition and updates.
Why an Open House?
The whole purpose of an open house is to drum up interest and generate buzz in a home to secure a competitive offer. As the seller, you will typically be asked to leave the home during an open house. Your Realtor® will handle the tours, welcome visitors, have them sign in, pass out documents with the home’s highlights on it, and follow up with potential buyers who have expressed an interest in the property.
Before the open house even happens, your real estate agent may have the home staged to look as attractive as possible to potential buyers. This involves “renting” furniture and accessories to make the home feel more elegant, cozy and more like a showpiece. This is especially useful if you have an outdated home, or if you have already moved out and everything is bare. Buyers want to envision themselves in a home; if it’s furnished stylishly, this will put a better image in their minds.
You may be hesitant to open up your home to strangers, but it’s a wise investment of time if you are serious about selling your home. Online tours and photos only go so far in capturing interest. People needs to see, touch and smell the home to determine if they can ultimately see themselves living there. They want to see what the neighborhood is like, how close your home is to area amenities, what the neighboring properties look like, and much more. They want to be able to envision their kids on a swing set in the backyard or grilling out back in the summer.
This is the indisputable value of holding an open house, and we can help.
Contact Berkshire Hathaway Premier Properties
To learn more about what to expect during your open house, contact the professionals at Berkshire Hathaway Premier Properties. Our licensed Realtors can take care of everything, from staging to holding the actual open house.