Do Open Houses Work?
By Joshua Suess

I get asked this question time and time again. Ready for the truth? Think of it this way: If you were selling your car, would you leave it on McBean Parkway on Sunday afternoon for three hours with signs and balloons all over it, key in the ignition, doors wide open, and let any random person sit in it and take it for a spin without first being pre-qualified? The answer is emphatically no, correct? Well, then why would you ever do this with your most valuable asset?

Research has estimated that less than .25 percent of homes held open sell as a result of the open house. This is why you see the same houses being held open week after week. Usually, open houses only attract nosey neighbors and people who want decorating ideas.

The agents holding the open houses would love to sell that listing, but they really are there to pick up new clients. If you hire an agent to sell your home and that agent does not have a large database of potential buyers to match up with your home, then what other option does that agent have to find a buyer? Even though it is like finding a needle in a haystack, if they do not prospect daily to find buyers and have no one else to tell about your listing, then the simple answer is that they must do everything possible - including holding an open house. They'd rather hold an open house with their fingers crossed, hoping that magical buyer will walk through the front door and buy it.

The flip side is this. When you hire an aggressive agent to sell your home, that agent will spend the majority of their time actively searching for buyers for their listings. They will also be properly advertising their listings, using marketing avenues that work, and will attract an even larger pool of qualified buyers. Since they already have the potential buyers to show your home to, this will result in a larger number of showings for your home. This, in turn, dramatically increases your chances of selling faster and for more money. Which option do you prefer?
Joshua Suess is with The Suess Home Selling Team at Re/Max 702-4640
www.nohasslenorisk.com.

Foreclosures just became a Less Attractive Purchase
By Jennifer Thompson


You may have heard that several of the nation's biggest mortgage holders have placed a freeze on foreclosures. The companies will be reviewing whether or not the actions taken by "robosigners" (employees who may have processed up to 10,000 foreclosure documents a month) illegitimately removed homeowners from their property.

While we don't yet know what will come from these reviews, experts project that additional lien holders will follow suit and also place freezes on foreclosures. With so much legal uncertainty, we can hypothesize that buyers will become increasingly wary of foreclosure purchases. While the price may be attractive, the uncertainty of the purchase is not.

This is not a good situation for the housing market, but there is a silver lining for sellers who are not in foreclosure. A Realtor® can help them capitalize on the uncertainty now inherent in the foreclosure market.
Jennifer Thompson is owner of and Realtor® with Regal Realty of California 373-5636 www.regalrealtyca.com.