How long should an open house last?

[imagirliegirl]

Our realtor is planning to have an open house next week. She is only planning for it to last 2 hours. We never attended open houses with this house because it was still being built so I have no idea how long they should last but that seems like a really short time period to me. I'm just wondering what is a normal time length for an open house?

[lil_geek]

That's about average I think. Weekend ones around here tend to be 1-3 or 2-4 (very rarely 1-4) and evening ones 6-8

[Rose]

I used to hold them for 3 hours and if it was slow I would close it a bit early.

[cari2]

I used to hold them for 3 hours and if it was slow I would close it a bit early. That is pretty typical around here too. Generally, they are from 1-4 and will close a little early or even go longer depending on the traffic.

[krbb]

2 hours is norm where I live. Every now and then I see a 2-5, but they are usually 1-3 or 2-4.

[penybryn]

2 hours sounds right. Ours lasted from 1-3 on Sundays. After we had a few I read somewhere online that less than 10% of sales come from open houses. It said it is more of a way for your agent to get new clients that are looking for homes. Ours did not sell from any open houses, of which I killed myself getting ready for.

When we signed with a new agent, I told her upfront, no open houses! She sold our house in 24 days.

[laura]

They are typically 1:30-4:30 around here, on Saturday and Sunday. But the market is still hot here, so that might influence.

[pixielou]

i'm in the boston area. most oh's last 2 hours, though i see a lot that only last 1.5 hours. the earliest i see them is 10 am, rare to see them go beyond 3 or 4 pm.

in our area oh's are typically only on sunday. it is very rare to see one on a saturday.

~pixie

[jki]

They are usually 1-4 on Sundays here.

[MLA]

Where I live, they last 2-3 hrs.

[SiValleySteph]

They are typically 1:30-4:30 around here, on Saturday and Sunday. But the market is still hot here, so that might influence.

Same place as Laura! I appreciate the open houses because I've been hitting up to 6-7 in one day. :cool: I've also seen 12:30-4, 1-4, etc. No less than 3 hours, though.

[Rose]

After we had a few I read somewhere online that less than 10% of sales come from open houses. It said it is more of a way for your agent to get new clients that are looking for homes. Ours did not sell from any open houses, of which I killed myself getting ready for.

This is true. Mostly you get neighbors and drive-bys. Off of the top of my head I can't think of any house we sold from an open house. Most people that stop by aren't even looking for a home or one that fits the criteria of the open house.

[ks_piper]

Out here they are 2-4 pm on Sundays. :)

[SiValleySteph]

This is true. Mostly you get neighbors and drive-bys. Off of the top of my head I can't think of any house we sold from an open house. Most people that stop by aren't even looking for a home or one that fits the criteria of the open house.

Do you think it varies by area? We put in an offer at a house we saw at an open house two weeks ago. We didn't get it and are putting in an offer this week on a house we saw at an open house, as well. The couple that got the first house also saw it at the open house.

[Rose]

Do you think it varies by area? We put in an offer at a house we saw at an open house two weeks ago. We didn't get it and are putting in an offer this week on a house we saw at an open house, as well. The couple that got the first house also saw it at the open house.

I think there could be a few areas that it happens in, but generally speaking I do not think open houses work. I know you are somewhere in the bay area and I worked in the Sac area.

Is there a reason you don't go out and look houses on any given day? Are you only looking at open houses?

[SiValleySteph]

Is there a reason you don't go out and look houses on any given day? Are you only looking at open houses?

Well, we work, so we are basically only looking at houses on the weekend. An open house makes it easier because we know that the owners won't be there and it's less prep (calling ahead, etc.). We went with our agent and went to a lot of houses. The first weekend we spent all day Saturday with our agent and didn't find just the right place, so we went down a list of open houses that she marked for us in another area. That's how we found house #1. This Sunday we were out with our agent and we almost didn't stop at the last house. Since it was open and we were in the area, we decided to just stop in and it was the house. :)

We're having open house in our current house this weekend. I hope it works! Our neighbor got two offers from their open house (only had one).

[Rose]

I think it's one think if you have a bunch of houses to see on a Sat/Sun and your agent is making appointments and some end up being open houses as opposed to buyers randomly going out without agents and deciding to put an offer on a house that they just happened to see.

Good luck with your OH! Hopefully you'll get a buyer like you. :)

[hisdaffodil]

Most of the time it's because the people who stop in have no clue about your house except that it's Open. So they don't know it's a $200,000 3 bedroom house, and they can't afford more than 150, you know? So it's like just blindly responding because there's a sign there, not because they're particularly interested in your house. So that's why the ratio is so low.

That said, I bought my first house at an Open House, before I was a Realtor. In the last 2 years, I've sold 1 house to someone who showed up at an Open House, and 1 to a buyer whose agent randomly stopped them at the Open because they were in the area.

So most of the time having an Open House doesn't do a lot for you. What it does do if it's properly advertised, is give your house more press and advertising. So even if people don't show to the Open, they see the ad in the paper and know about it.
But you know what, to those 2 sellers it sure was worth it to be Open!

To me, it's all up to what the sellers want, always. I have some that say None, fine. And I have some that say "Hey, I'm at church every Sunday during that time anyway, so what do I care?"

Good luck!

Oh! here Sunday 2-4 is almost a religion. Very rarely does anyone do differently.

[LRL]

In our area (about 25 miles from SiValleySteph and Laura) they do open houses from 2-4 religiously, on Saturdays and Sundays. Most homes are only open on one of those days. Very rarely there are homes open for three hours, but this is unusual.

When we were/are househunting, we always go during the week with our realtor because it is not possible to see all the homes we want to during this time period (ok, it is but not without totally ticking off our DS from the constant in/outs of the carseat :p). Most of the homes selling in our city are vacant at listing.

[mamax2]

Any time between 1-4 is normal. Typical duration is 2 hours, maybe up to 3. That said, I'm running my OHs next weekend from 11-4 (which beats the 10-5 the seller originally suggested!)

[kimthebride]

Ours are pretty much always 3 hours.