Selling a home comes with its own bundle of stress, and the last thing any homeowner needs is more stress. Usually, the idea of valuing your home for an open house event puts off house owners, mainly because all that comes to mind is more work to be done, entertaining several people at once and putting their home directly under public scrutiny.
That narrative needs to be changed because there are several benefits of having an open house. Frankly, the pros outweigh the cons by far. You probably need more convincing, so here are 5 sweet benefits of hosting an open house when selling your home.
1. Kill 2 Birds at Once, Or 3, Or 15
Instead of scheduling various home viewings with several potential buyers, an open house gives you the opportunity to have all of them in your home at once.
Since an open house can last anywhere between 1-2 hours, you give all these potential buyers ample time to view your home and get a proper feel for it. This way, you attract many more prospective buyers than you would if you were to have individual, private viewings.
2. Save Time and Money
When you have multiple home viewings to attend to, you spend so much time preparing for each interested party who wants to “drop by” your home. With an open house, you save time preparing for and meeting all these prospective buyers by having them come at the same time.
Plus, you’ll spend a lot less on marketing costs as hosting an open house gives you access to a larger audience, and a faster sale.
3. Staging
If you’re selling your home and it’s been on the market for a while now, you know all too well the pressure that comes with cleaning your home and making it look spotless before every single viewing.
The beauty of hosting an open house is that you do this once, and you can do it extremely well.
You can stage your whole house, hire a furniture company for specific furniture types, put out cookies and coffee, and go all out. Create that ambience you want your buyers to experience, not just in pictures, but in person. All at once.
4. Meeting the Neighbors
More often than not, prospective buyers are not only interested in your home but the neighborhood as well. An open house is the perfect opportunity to have a few of your neighbors drop in and say hello to potential buyers.
This gives your home an edge over other homes on the market as buyers will already feel at home after talking to friendly neighbors (please make sure it’s the friendly neighbors that show up!).
5. Higher Bids on Your Home
It’s psychological — put all interested parties together and their desire to buy your home hits the roof (see what I did there?). When several potential buyers view your home at the same time, usually a bidding war begins in their minds.
People like to “win” and so they’re more likely to want to discuss the sales price on the spot and give you a stronger offer.
In general, hosting an open house allows for more inquiries and increased interest in your home. If you’re looking for a way to get the most suitable buyers, an open house is what you should consider having, not running away from.
Author Bio:
“Alex Capozzolo is the owner of the Brotherly Love Real Estate blog and a content writer for the real estate industry. We pride ourselves in answering the question how do I sell my house fast in Philadelphia. Our focus is on helping people through one of the most important investment decisions of their lifetime by seamlessly providing fast, honest and professional real estate services.”