First if the open house is in a high traffic area, and you have well placed directional signs, you increase the chances of buyers wandering in. You might be able to add the potential for more buyer traffic by simply doing a post card/phone call blast to apartment complexes in the same area announcing the open house you are having.

 If you do not want to leave meeting new people to chance then open houses are perfect because it gives you a reason to knock on a  the neighbors doors either before or immediately after the open house. You might use a script like:

 Hi my name is Successful Real Estate Agent and I just wanted you to know that I will be holding Mr. and Mrs. Want to Move’s home open today between 2-4. Feel free to stop on over I have some cookies and interesting stats about your neighborhood that I am sharing with my guests today.  Thanks

 That is it, short and sweet and now you have branded yourself in the mind of this potential buyer, seller, or referral source.

 If you do not have an open house scheduled, think about having one next week and every week until your bank account is so full you have to give away money!

The fact is very little of our marketing and prospecting is geared toward selling a specific home.  The for-sale sign we place in our seller’s front yard results, more often, in a buyer settling on a different home than the one they called about.  However, the yard signs used that generated that lead is how homes are sold. 

The same goes for open houses.  The buyer I thought for sure would buy the home I have open may or may not come to my open house, and he may visit another agents open houses and one of those agents will then qualify the buyer, determine exactly what the buyer is looking for and then may show them my listing.  If that agent did not feel holding open houses were worth it, the buyer and my seller may not have found each other so quickly.

Are they a waste of time?  Perhaps if all you do when there is sit and stare blankly at the walls until visitors arrive, then yes your time is being wasted.  A good agent however will use the time between visitors to write thank you notes, call their center of influence or draft a new blog post.  There is plenty of work we can accomplish at an open house until the buyers visit. 

If you want to have a “self-fulfilling prophecy”, as they say, and never sell a home from an open house, never hold one open.  If you want to guarantee you do sell a home or several homes from an open house, hold them open, often and continue to improve your open house marketing plan.  You will see the point soon enough by way of numbers on your commission check.