Ninety-five percent of home buyers use the Internet to shop for a home, according to the National Association of REALTORS.® If home buyers can see your home through multiple photos, videos and virtual tours, why bother with an open house?

An open house can catch buyers early in the home-search process when they’re driving around neighborhoods and getting first impressions. They often choose several homes to drive by, and an open house could tip them favorably toward your neighborhood and home. Open houses allow buyers to view homes without obligation, and an open house helps them form their preferences, compromises and deal-breakers.

An open house is only effective if it shows the home to its fullest advantage. Deep cleaning, de-cluttering, de-personalizing, and staging are imperative, just as they are for showings by appointment. Your pets should be out of the home for the day, and you should make plans to be gone while your home is open to the public.

That said, less than nine percent of buyers chose the home they bought from yard signs and open houses.Instead, 90 percent used the services of a real estate agent, which means an open house is only one piece in the overall marketing plan for selling your home.

Contact me if an open house should be part of your home’s marketing plan. Keep in mind that you may be in a market where homes are selling so quickly that an open house isn’t necessary, but in most markets, you should employ all the ways home buyers shop for a home.