What is an 'Open House?'

Properties

People buying and selling Properties in countries such as the USA and South Africa have for many years been familiar with the term 'Open House.'

It refers to a popular system which allows potential buyers to come and see over a property for sale, without the need to make an appointment or even provide contact details when visiting the property.

The selling agent will arrange with the owners of the property to vacate their home on perhaps a Sunday afternoon, between 2 & 4.30pm to enable interested people to come and browse around their property, without any time restraint or any estate agent rying to 'Sell' to them.  In other words its a very relaxed, informal way of seeing whether a property puts enough ticks in your boxes for you to want to make an offer.

From a seller's point of view an Open House session can attract a number of potential buyers; some of whom may well wish to put forward an offer for the property in question.

When we arrange an Open House for one of our client's bungalows we would...

• Arrange a suitable date and time for the Open House session
• Advertise in the Open House in the local property press
• Erect an Open House board outside the property for the week preceeding the Open House
• Have a friendly member of staff present in the hallway to welcome visitors, answer questions, distibute property particulars and take details of any interested parties.

Some peole are concerned about the security aspect of having strangers wondering around their home and I have to admit there are some security implications but little more so than with a conventional accoimpanied viewing as we advise our client to lock away or temporarily remove from the property any items of particular value.

In future posts I will let you know how the public have responded to our Open House sessions.

I would welcome any comments or questions regarding this topic.

Comments

[John Nixon]

The trouble is that we have tried using this 'Open House' method as a marketing tool but British people are so traditional that it just doesn't work.

We try it every so often, but it is somewhat disheartening when the only people who turn up to have a look is a neighbour or someone who is thinking of putting their present home on the market in 2012!

However, we shall persevere

Thanks for your comments.

[Reece]

Thanks for the article it was a good read. I do believe in these kind of arrangements. Alot less hassel for the owner, and being able to get alot of viewers round in a short space of time is a big advantage! However, the security is a bit of an issue and I am sure that locking away valuables and having a representative from the estate agent would be a deterrant.