Open houses help sales Open houses help sales (October 01, 2004)

Realtors say time and trouble well worth it
by Jeb Bing

Almost very weekend, the doors of scores of homes that are for sale in Pleasanton are thrown open to anyone who wants to peek inside, whether a neighbor, prospective buyer or, as is often the case, someone looking for decorating ideas.

An open house requires a tremendous commitment in time and effort by both the seller and the agent handling the event.

Is it worth it?

Veteran Realtor Susie Steele of Hometown GMAC Real Estate thinks so, and she holds lots of them weekend after weekend.

"I think there are benefits both to the agent and to the seller, or we wouldn't do it," Steele says. "We have neighbors who come in to see the house for the first time, and they spread the word. Others come by whose own agents haven't shown them the house, and they may be the ones who buy it. Still more stop in to chat, they get to know me, and then they'll call a few months later when they decide to sell."

Steele said that while homes can now be listed on Virtual Tours and on the Multiple Listing Service on the Internet, there's nothing like seeing it first-hand to give prospective buyers the "feel" of the house. Plus, since the owner's not there, would-be buyers, including neighbors, can view the home at their leisure, comment openly to others about what they think, and take their time to determine how they would decorate and furnish the rooms.

A week ago, Steele spent three hours on Saturday and Sunday showing a home on Valenza Way in Ruby Hill. For most of the time, three or four couples were viewing the home and asking Steele questions, while also enjoying the lemonade and brochures she provided. By the end of the open house, she had given out nearly 100 business cards to visitors who might contact her later or refer friends to her office.

While inconveniencing the sellers, who leave their home during an open house, Steele also has to guard their premises. Sometimes she asks other agents to help watch the rooms in an exceptionally large house, and at all times she's on her guard both for possible thefts as well as her own safety. Like other agents who find themselves alone in a large home on a lonely autumn day, Steele keeps her cell phone closse at hand, in her case programmed to her husband Mike's phone for emergencies. If suspicious of someone coming into the house, she also tells them that the owner is about to return, or that she's closing up.

For the most part, though, agents find open houses a good way to meet new clients and to show their client's home when it's at its best.

Still, it's a sacrifice. Steele has three young children: Madison, 8; Makenna, 6; and Michael, 2, who wait on weekends with their father for her return. The work of a Realtor often falls on a weekend, and in a hot, competitive market like Pleasanton's has been this summer, it's usually a seven-day-a-week job.

But sell a few of the $1.3 million homes like the one on Valenza, and the monetary return makes it all worthwhile, especially through the coming winter months when sales slow down.

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