We saw a welcomed change in how we market Real Estate at the first of this month. Once the January restrictions were altered, open houses were again allowed to take place. Over the past 2 years, open houses have been one of the restricted activities, being blocked more than they have been allowed. Personally, we had to relearn how to effectively hold an open house. I say this jokingly, as they have been a part of my marketing strategy for over 36 years, however, like riding a bike, the basics come back. While this marketing approach is historically tried and true, we are seeing some changes that have surfaced that I feel need to be brought to light.

Over the past 2 weekends our team has held 4 open houses on 2 different homes. The first property in Whitby, had about 60 groups through and one in Oshawa having around 30. Of the Buyers that toured the homes, most were working with agents, yet were touring on their own. Another commonality of this group of Buyers was that a large percentage of them were coming from the west end of Toronto. The question is, is this way of shopping for homes a good way for a Buyer to get into the market? Let’s dig in and look at it a bit deeper.

Let’s first look at why a Buyer who is being represented by an Agent would be touring open houses on their own:

1. The Agent is busy with personal obligations or is spending time with a higher priority client.
2. The Agent does not want to do a 1, 2 or 4 hour round trip to view a property.
3. The Agent recommended that the Buyer do some “research” on their own to determine what type of property they are interested in.
4. When an Agent is not familiar with an area, and cannot answer any of the school, church or local amenities questions that arise, it might be easier to research the questions after the fact then acknowledge they do not have the answers top of mind.

A Buyer that dI met at one of the open houses shared their story with me. They were desperate to buy a home and had offered on 5 or 6 houses only to be outbid. When offer day came, I noticed the Buyers name on one of the offers. My question to the reader is, “did the Buyer sharing with me their frantic desire to purchase help or hinder them?” My experience shows that when a Buyer shares personal information with the Agent who represents the Seller, the Seller ends up with an advantage.

So we have determined why Buyer Agents send their Buyers to view open houses and what can happen when they interact the Sellers Agent, lets look at how the negotiation process can unfold.

As I was penning this blog post, I received a call from an Agent who had sent a Buyer to visit an open house we held yesterday. The Agent informed me that he had not visited the home and was trying to figure out what features the home had as he was writing an offer. Let me repeat; the agent had not seen the home and was trying to determine its value. I did my best to share with him the upgrades like 7” baseboards, engineered hardwood, the custom kitchen and items like an insulated cold cellar and the dates of all the improvements. These were items we had available at the open house. I have received an offer from the Agent that is missing quite a bit of info.

Over the past year we have had homes sell without a Buyer Agent stepping foot inside and the home with issues arising on appliances not being left (the Agent did not ask for them,) window coverings not being left (the Agent did not ask for them) and issues arising with the Buyer not being able to park their large SUV in a garage due to the size.

Selling Real Estate means doing “due diligence” on behalf of your Buyer client, determining what features the home has that will create value, how the home sits on the property and the views it has along with taking in how the neighbors take care of their yards. These are next to impossible to determine when doing simple Google map searches and looking at Agent pictures. Selling Real Estate is a hands on business and requires getting in your car, touring the home with your Buyers, observing the property in real time and creating a strategy to get the home at the best price and terms.

Something I will never tire of is seeing the smile on a Buyers face when they walk into a home they feel is perfect. No piece of technology can replace this.

For personal “in-person” tours of homes in Durham, or for a strategy session on how we can help you sell for maximum price, I can be reached at lindsay@buyselllove.ca

How to tour Open Houses as a Buyer:

1. With your agent, compile a list of Open Houses on the day you want to see homes.
2. Have your agent book a showing during the hours of the Open House. (Allowing your agent to be notified if any offers come in on the property.)
3. Fit the Open Houses around other listed properties you would like to see.
4. Keep the brochures to review when you are finished, allowing you to remember which house had which features.
5. Rely on your local agents’ experience to draw on about area churches, shopping, parks and restaurants.

If a home you see at an Open House is of interest, have your agent do a market evaluation to determine the appropriate value in today’s market. It is critical that your agent has seen the home to understand the improvements and upgrades to determine an accurate price.