I recently came across an old meme that has circulated in real estate circles for decades. The meme quoted a statistic claiming that only 2% of homes sell as a result of open houses.

Today that number has crept up slightly. The National Association of Realtors now reports roughly 4%, but the statistic now includes both open houses and calls from for sale signs .

If this were a betting statistic in Las Vegas, it wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence.

So why do agents still hold open houses if the results are so low?

As with many things in real estate, the statistics don’t always tell the whole story.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

When I first started hearing the 2% statistic in the early 1990s, the real estate world looked very different. The internet was barely part of the conversation. Marketing a home was largely local and fairly simple. Agents relied on the MLS system, newspaper advertising and weekend open houses.

Open houses served an important purpose back then. They were one of the few opportunities for an agent to meet prospective buyers who might be looking for a home. Many times the buyer who walked through the door wasn’t there for that particular property, but they might become a future client looking at other homes.

Fast forward to today and the landscape has completely changed.

The internet now dominates the home search process, allowing buyers to browse listings at any time and from anywhere. But interestingly, this shift has also revived the role of open houses in a new way.

In Durham Region, for example, we’ve seen a noticeable trend develop over the past decade. Many buyers who currently live in Mississauga, Brampton or other parts of the GTA are searching for more affordable homes further east. After browsing listings online during the week, they often spend their weekends touring homes in person.

And how do they do that when they don’t yet have an agent in the area?

They visit open houses.

What we’re seeing is a “new-old” strategy emerging. Buyers use the internet to identify homes they want to see, and open houses become the easiest way to walk through those properties.

In many cases, those visits are leading directly to offers.

Take a few recent examples.

233 Greenwood Avenue was a bungalow with a legal accessory apartment. The buyer’s agent discovered the property while touring an open house. The buyer’s only visit to the home happened during that open house before submitting an offer.

At 12 Keeler Crescent, the home was on the market for about a month before attracting five offers. The two strongest offers both came from buyers who had first discovered the home during an open house. One family even sent their parents through the following weekend to see the property again.

At 605 George Reynolds, the home sold conditionally after two offers were submitted. The winning buyers first toured the property during an open house and later returned with their agent. In fact, another couple who attended an open house the day before the property sold had hoped to submit an offer themselves, but missed the opportunity.

Stories like these are becoming increasingly common.

Today’s buyers often begin their search online but still rely on open houses to experience a home in person. For out-of-town buyers especially, it can be the most convenient way to view several properties during a weekend trip.

There is one important caution for buyers.

When a buyer attends an open house without their own agent present, they may unintentionally share information with the listing agent that could weaken their negotiating position. We have also seen situations where a buyer’s agent writes an offer on a home they have never personally visited, relying entirely on their client’s description of the property.

In my view, that makes it difficult to fully represent a client’s interests.

Open houses may not account for a large percentage of sales in the statistics, but in practice they remain a powerful marketing tool when used correctly. Combined with online exposure, they help bring serious buyers through the door and give sellers the best chance of achieving strong results.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that real estate success rarely comes from relying on a single strategy. It comes from using every tool available and guiding clients carefully through each step of the process.

From the first conversation about making a move all the way to the housewarming party.

That’s what keeps clients coming back, move after move.If you are planning a move, I would be happy to share strategies on how techniques I have learned over the past 4 decades can help you buy or sell at top value. I can be reached at lindsay@buyselllove.ca or 905-743-5555.

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