I guarantee you, 100%, without a shadow of a doubt… that many Maryland home sales have resulted directly from a prospective buyer’s chance encounter with a local weekend open house. It has happened countless times over the course of Real Estate history, and you can trust that it still happens today… that the buyer who ultimately purchases your home found out about it, simply by attending that “chance” open house.
In fact, I can tell you by first hand account that earlier this very year, in May of 2015, close friends of mine whom had their home listed with ExecuHome Realty sold their home to a buyer that attended our open house (in fact she was about 5 minutes late, but of course we gladly let her in). She walked through the home for about 10 minutes with her brother and by the time she got back down to the first floor, she confidently stated, “This is my house”… and 2 months later, it was! Now, would she have found out about it without the open house? Maybe. But her visit to that home, that day, and under those circumstances, for one reason or another, made her fall in love with it.
Even given my story, and many other similar ones that take place every weekend, it does seem as though open houses have gotten a bit of a bad rap over the course of the last decade and less of them are scheduled in today’s market then even a decade ago. Many Maryland Realtors have given them a demotion in their pecking order of marketing strategies that are available today in the industry. At this point, a Maryland open house is just never a central element in a home’s marketing blitz, where once it was. The web has certainly seen to that. Many Maryland Realtors will straight up tell you that they are a “waste of time”, now whether they truly believe that or just don’t want to give up a couple of hours on the weekend to hold it can be argued, but either way open houses are certainly looked at in a more pessimistic way then they used to be.
Those who “hate” on open houses sort of have a point because let’s face it: if you can “visit” any listed home via its online virtual tour, and it requires a fraction of the time and effort of an in-person visit, then a home’s virtual tour is probably where you’ll head first. Additionally, even if you are aware of a open house scheduled for the weekend, chances are you’ll probably check it out online first. You might even be tempted to call your agent or email the selling agent to schedule a private showing, because getting there ahead of the masses can give you an edge if the property draws a crowd, which isn’t a bad way of thinking about it at all. But still the open house, itself, is very important.
ExecuHome Realty can’t deny that the internet has changed Real Estate forever, and how homes are marketed will continue to evolve, however we simply cannot deny the power of the open house, and we believe they will continue to be an important piece to how any home should be marketed. Just because open houses are “old school” doesn’t make them any less important, and viewing a home online will never be an equal replacement for actually being there.
For the house hunter who is just initiating the effort and wants to start attending open houses — you could look for notices in the newspaper classifieds, and even check the old-fashioned places—like grocery store bulletin boards…
OR… you can skip all of that and use our site and this link to be connected to EVERY SINGLE OPEN HOUSE scheduled in Maryland.
ExecuHome Realty makes it easy for you to limit your search by area, size, price, and really narrow it down to find exactly what you want to see. ExecuHome also never discriminates against other local competing brokerages, SO EVERY COMPANY IN MARYLAND IS REPRESENTED WITHIN OUR ONLINE DATABASE… So check it out it here!
If you have questions on how to best market your home for sale, or you are a buyer looking for help throughout the home-buying process… Turn to ExecuHome Realty, Maryland’s Largest Independent Real Estate Brokerage and home to over 350 of Maryland’s most experienced Real Estate agents. We can’t wait to help you, so call ExecuHome customer support at 443-632-3800 and we can get started immediately.
To Contact ExecuHome Realty Directly Click Here…
To Search The Entire Maryland MLS Home Database Click Here…
To Search The Entire List Of Scheduled Open Houses Within The State Of Maryland Click Here…
Visit ExecuHome Realty’s Facebook Page By Clicking Here…
ExecuHome Realty’s blogs are authored by Nick Schiaffino, Principal Broker/President, ExecuHome Realty
