The Value of Open Houses

The ongoing debate of as to if open houses have any value. This is my professional opinion. In any transaction there many different avenues to how a buyer finds a property. The same road does not get us a contract 100% of the time. As a Realtor®, it is my job to provide my clients a 110% effort to sell their home.

According to a study that Harris Interactive® conducted on behalf of Trulia, 91% of buyers will visit open houses during their home search with the internet being their primary resource to find them. (Click here for the complete release from Trulia).

I have had success stories of selling listings through open houses just as I have through the many other tools that I use to market my listings. That is why I continue to have them week after week. Open houses are just one piece of the pie in marketing properties. It is our job as professionals to offer our clients a complete package of services to achieve the goal for which we were hired: sell their property.

Open houses create opportunity just as all of the other means that we market properties. Yes, it is also an opportunity to pick up other business as many buyers coming through have not yet established a relationship with another agent and that property is not right for them. Yes, there are weeks that few to none come through. Yes, there are weeks that there is a lot of traffic with no real bites. It is all worth it for the one that comes through and writes the offer. It only takes one.

To discount open houses as not being a viable tool would be the same as discounting any of the other means that we use as real estate agents to market properties.

Agents All A Twitter About Signs

You can tell the times have changed as to how we get our information. In 140 characters or less, word of an old sign ordinance spreads like the Swine Flu.

Many, many years ago, the City of Chicago passed a sign ordinance banning signs from being placed in the public way. There are fines ranging from $100-$500 associated with this offense making each sign you put in the public way a very expensive lead.

Every so often the Chicago Association of Realtors is informed that real estate agents are violating the law either by various aldermen’s offices or members of the public. Periodically, the association communicates to its members they are violating the law with their open house signs via the communication of the current time. At first the Chicago Realtor newspaper, then the magazine. Now it is posted on their website and warnings emailed out to its members. All along there has been outreach to the designated brokers.

As a long time member of Chicago Association of Realtor's Government Affairs Committee, I was well aware of the weekly violations and complaints coming into the association as well as all of the years of ongoing outreach efforts the association does to make its members aware of all legislation that affects our industry. Most of the Chicago Real Estate community has ignored the sign law like it did not apply to them until last week.

Mary Ellen Podmolik of the Chicago Tribune article about a certain alderman and the sign ordinance posted early Friday. Within minutes many of the Tweeters were all in a Twitter about this law they claim to have never known about and how it will fringe on their business. It was spreading like a wild fire on Twitter as it kept being re-tweeted. As someone who keeps Seesmic(a desktop platform that integrates Twitter and Facebook) running in the background of her computer and is on Twitterberry when she is away from it, the uproar is still continuing days later.

What occurs to me is that these same real estate agents used the same medium they are expressing their rage in to promote their open houses they would have quality prospects coming through their listings rather than somebody who stumbled over a sign on a corner a block away. Buyers who are real purchasers have typically toured the home virtually online before coming to the property. They have downloaded the list of the homes they want to visit from a variety of sites including brokerages websites, open house portals or Googling.

The odds of a qualified buyer finding your listing is a lot better optimized/advertised online via websites, portals, good SEO, syndication and social networking than putting signs at every corner in the neighborhood that the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation could throw away or fine you. Is this a quality lead at the cost of $500 per lead?

Open Houses Chicago: Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3

This week's featured open house is 111 S. Racine at the Chelsea Townhomes in Chicago's West Loop. This 2 year old townhome built by the Belgravia Group, a company with over 60 years of experience. This spacious 3 bedroom, 3.1 bath extrawide home was thoughtfully upgraded and is tastefully decorated, ready for its new owners.
This property will be open Sunday, May 3 from noon -2pm and always can be shown by appointment.

Open houses provide a great way to to learn about the local real estate marketplace and meet your local Realtors. Pictures are never a substitute for actually seeing the space.


This Weekend's Open Houses:

Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, 11am-4pm
Fletcher Row Townhomes: Model at 2452 W Fletcher, Chicago

Sunday, May 3,
Noon-2pm - Edgewater: 5555 Sheridan Road, Unit 316,

Noon-2pm - West Loop: 111 S Racine,

11am-1pm Lakeview: 3330 N Ashland, Unit 2,

Start your Chicago home search at http://hotpropertychicago.listingbook.com/.

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Chicago Open Houses Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26

Open houses are always a great way to to learn about the local real estate marketplace and meet your local Realtors. Pictures are never a substitute for actually seeing the space.

This Weekend's Open Houses:
Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26, 11am-4pm Fletcher Row Townhomes:

Model at 2452 W Flethcer, Chicago

Sunday, April 26:
Noon-2pm Edgewater: 5555 Sheridan Road, Unit 316, Chicago
1pm-3pm West Loop: 111 S Racine, Chicago
1:30pm-3:30pm Lakeview: 3330 N Ashland, Unit 2, Chicago

Start your Chicago home search at http://hotpropertychicago.listingbook.com/.

Follow me on on Twitter

Shop and Compare

In a time when so many factors that go into a home buyers decision regarding their purchase are favorable to the buyer as an investment such as pricing and interest rates , it still comes down to this will be your home.

• Does the space work for you?
• Do you like the location?
• Does this home work for your lifestyle?

Today, March 2, you can visit 3 very different properties in 3 locations all in the same price range.

1. 1pm-3pm - Chicago's West Loop: 111 S Racine
2. 12pm-2pm - West Lakeview: 3330 N Ashland, #2
3. 1pm-3pm - East Lakeview: 508 W Melrose, 5C