Giving home buyers a quick stroll through your home may be all it takes to sell your home

By Barbara Ballinger/CTW Features

It used to be an open house was the first step to expose a new listing and give nosey neighbors a peak into someone else's home. But as houses stay on the market longer, open houses are getting a different glance.Lisa Tibbet felt it was important for buyers to see her large one-bedroom Mount Vernon, N.Y., co-op because of the amenities, landscaping and the gated community's proximity to a nearby train station. However, she felt her showing was more of a voyeuristic venture for her visitors."All my neighbors came to be nosey, and some who didn't live here also came by," she says. When no bids materialized, Tibbet lowered the price and eventually switched to a salesperson from a larger organization that reaches a broader audience. Her new salesperson also holds open houses less frequently. Her unit hasn't sold, says Tibbet, but she's heartened that more traffic has materialized. Practitioner Aric Shlifka, with @properties in Chicago, also has seen found that open houses attract non-buyers. "A lot of time it's tire-kickers seeing what's in the neighborhood," he says. Yet agents, brokers and Realtors still hold them for a variety of reasons. For Shlifka, it's banking on the chance a seller might come through. He's more inclined to hold one if the property is located in a busy area with a lot of street traffic, and he also says an open house can be a way to gain new buyers who haven't yet selected a real estate practitioner. "It gets you in front of people. I've gotten multiple clients that way. If they can see and talk to you, they begin to trust you and might want to work with you," he says. Still other practitioners hold them because their clients insist on doing so. But then there are the great believers. Michael Shapot, a broker and vice president with Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, New York, says open houses provide a regular stable of buyers. "They should be called Mad Houses you'd think owners were giving away their apartments for free," he says. "Sunday-afternoon open houses for properly priced properties are jammed with buyers eager to outbid each other. And they do just that. A majority of listings that sell generate multiple bids and often sell after bidding wars that resemble auctions, at prices way above." Because of security, many buildings restrict the hours that they can be held, how many people go through the unit at a given time and require attendees to be escorted from the front door to the unit.Price often can factor into whether an open house is worthwhile, others say. Some real estate pros won't hold them for upper-bracket properties because they believe they'll get more casual sightseers than serious lookers. In his Washington, D.C., market, the cutoff generally is at $2 million, says Michael Rankin, a broker with Tutt, Taylor & Rankin, Sotheby's International Realty.Whether an open house will be the magic bullet to produce a contract is never for sure, but if you're selling and want to try it, the following guidelines are more apt to help beat the odds, experts say. Announce it to the world. To attract the largest number of visitors, be sure you get out the word through advertisements in local newspapers and Web sites, post flyers, and then post signs and hang balloons as the day nears. Be sure to have the open house right after the listing agreement has been signed to gain the greatest exposure, says Jack Strama, a Realtor with Jenny Pruitt & Associates in Atlanta. You also can then use professional photos to showcase the house. Rankin often takes a more personalized approach and mails invitations to everyone in the neighborhood, just in case they want to change homes or know someone who wants to live in the area. Choose the right day and time. Most real estate pros suggest a weekend day and a two-to-three-hour window in the afternoon. Rankin, however, often prefers a Wednesday or Thursday night after work, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., when people are less busy and not preoccupied with weekend events, he says. Also, be careful not to plan the open house for when there's a major local sporting activity because it may pare attendance, says Linda Feinstein, broker/owner, ERA Jensen & Feinstein Realtors in Hinsdale, Ill. Food or no food? Some say nibbles and beverages are critical to lure - and keep - lookers; others say it creates a mess with crumbs. Rankin doesn't serve food, but for certain more expensive listings offers sparkling water and white wine. Shlifka brings in coffee and snacks according to listing price. "It can help to open up conversations," he says.Jason McInerney, an agent with RE/MAX Realty Plus of South Boston, definitely believes, however, in the power of food and drink. He's even become known as "Chef Jay" in his area. A former chef, he started preparing food for open houses when the Boston market slowed. "The average number of days on the market has grown from 70 to 150. We need a way to keep sellers happy and interest buyers," he says. Among his favorite offerings: baked brie in puff pastry with strawberry-champagne sauce and Sicilian won tons stuffed with plum tomatoes, basil, sour cream and Chablis. He prepares most of the recipes at home, then finishes them at the house so pleasant smells waft through. His listing sheets provide recipes. Encores. Depending on availability, Strama says he likes to hold an open house every month and sometimes twice a month. "The goal is to increase awareness of homes that are available. Somebody may say to someone in their office, Hey, there's an open house in the neighborhood, which spreads the word," he says. But the key, he adds, is to hold them consistently rather than just once. "Some people need to come back two or three times and at different times before they're ready to buy." CTW Features