Not Sure About Holding An Open House? It Comes Down To Saving Time Versus Avoiding Risk

If you want to sell your home, you may be either dreading or anticipating holding an open house. These are actually not required to sell a home, so you get to choose whether you want to have one. But deciding whether or not to have one is not the easiest task. These can be big deals for sellers, and big messes as well if the events don't deliver a buyer. But it's your appetite for swift resolutions, risk, and more money that can really show you which way to go.

Saving Time and Effort

On one hand, holding an open house can really save you a lot of time and effort. You get crowds of people coming in, giving your home more exposure than it would otherwise get just through individual showings. And you have a chance to avoid having to keep your home in great shape if you manage to get acceptable offers during the open house. With individual showings, your home has to be cleaner than usual 24/7 for an undefined number of weeks or months. Holding an open house could make life a lot easier for you if effort and time are your main concerns.

On the other hand, an open house can be kind of onerous in that you're going to have crowds of people walking through, tracking in dirt, expecting things like free food, and possibly damaging things in the house. So that time saved gets reduced by all the cleaning you might have to do after the open house, not to mention the preparation beforehand.

Increasing Crime Risk

This is unfortunately a very real risk of open houses -- you have random people coming in and wandering around, and your agent might not be able to keep an eye on all of them. That means some could be thieves out to steal any valuables that you haven't put away or case the house for future break-ins.

It's possible to reduce the risk by removing all valuables and anything else you wouldn't want to lose, as well as ensuring that you keep the house locked up well after the open house is done. But if you don't want to take any risks, an open house might not be for you.

More Money

One really good thing about open houses that attract a lot of people in competitive areas is that you could see bids get competitive. In other words, people could start offering over your asking price in an effort to compete with each other to make their offers more attractive to you. If you're trying to take advantage of a hot seller's market, an open house could give you that extra edge as offers soar.

Talk to your real estate agent about whether or not to hold an open house. If your agent has held many, he or she will be able to discuss the pros and cons with you in depth and in relation to your own situation.