Throughout my time in this industry, I’ve found myself surprised by how much people seem to not know about the process of selling a home. Upon reflection, I realize that lots has changed in this industry over the last decade, and I came to realize that people transact real estate so infrequently that there’s lots in the process they either never become aware of or simply forget over the years. With that said, there’s one step that seemingly every prospective buyer and seller knows about, and that step is the open house.
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Whether You Like it Or Not, the Market Has Changed
But as I said – a lot has changed in the industry over the past decade, or even post COVID. Throughout COVID there were no Open Houses, so a very common question I’ve received in the last couple years. “Do I need an open house to sell my home?”
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The Answer is Not Black and White
Like any good question, the answer is nuanced. With that said, I strongly believe the prevailing answer to this question is yes. If it’s feasible, you should always organize an open house to sell your home. In simplest terms, it’s a supply and demand equation. The likelihood of selling your home, and the chance of selling it for the highest price, is strongly coordinated to the demand for your home, and the demand increases by maximizing the amount of eyeballs of prospective buyers on the home. An Open House is the most well known, most efficient, and one of the simplest ways to get a large number of eyeballs on the home in quick time.
On top of that, from a marketing perspective, a busy open house generates buzz and excitement for the home. Seeing many others in the house and excited about it fosters interest and competition, which will make it more likely that an offer is received, or multiple offers are received and the property sells for the highest feasible price.
Marketing and pricing are two major components of a home sale. Find out how to price your home for sale here.
When Not to Have an Open House
Further to this, I’ve had many clients initially believe that an open house is the only way to see the property. Some of my buyers didn’t realize that you could book a private showing with a licensed agent, and there are also buyers who are unrepresented who simply want to browse open houses at their convenience. By not having an open house, you are potentially cutting off this potential buyer pool from seeing and considering your home.
Now, there are cases where it might not make sense to host an open house. For example, open houses are far less effective for condominiums than they are traditional freehold homes. In fact, some condo corporations in Toronto don’t even allow open houses. For those that do, the presence of the elevator and the fact that it often requires two agents (one to greet on the ground floor and one to be in the unit) makes them relatively ineffective, and not necessarily very fruitful.
Further, if a home is tenanted, it’s likely not very effective to have an open house. For starters, it requires disrupting the living of the tenant, something they legally are obligated to do (with requisite notice) but something they can make very difficult, and or severely limit the effectiveness of (by staying in the house during). Additionally, it’s best to present a home at it’s highest quality during an open house, and a tenanted unit is almost always unstaged, and will likely be messy and dirty, and all around looking lived in. Presenting that image en masse may not be the most effective strategy.
Some sellers simply prefer not to have open houses. Whether it’s for privacy reasons, because of expensive items of décor or personal effects they don’t want to present freely to the public, or simple the inconvenience of vacating a home for what amounts to close to four hours each afternoon of a weekend, it isn’t for everybody. That’s ok. While it would be our recommendation that making it work is in the best interest of the sale, there’s plenty of examples of successful home sales without an open house, as the roaring COVID market made very clear.
Looking for more advice on selling your home? Read these posts next:
- To Stage or Not to Stage
- Why Hiring Your Friend to Sell Your Home Might Be a Bad Idea
- Should I Get a Pre-Listing Home Inspection?
At the End of the Day, The Choice is Yours
Ultimately, the choice of doing an open house falls on the seller. While we recommend doing one in almost every case when we have a listing (where permitted), there’s certainly many reasons why a seller would prefer to not do one, and we can work with any prospective seller to sell a home fitting a process and the needs required. If you have any questions about selling a home, or would like to discuss the process or the pros and cons of an open house, please never hesitate to reach out! We’re always happy to discuss, and look forward to hearing from you.
Give us a call at 416.642.2660 or email admin@torontorealtygroup.com. We’re always happy to chat!
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