Delores A. Conway,, Director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast at USC's Lusk Center believes that in a hot market a seller has a lot of power because houses don't stay available for long. "But in a slowing market, houses are staying on longer," she said. "Now the Open House serves as a showcase for the home, and highlights differences to the buyers who have many more options." Conway believes if Realtors don't hold open houses, their clients will be at a disadvantage. While she concedes that buyers are doing a lot more homework on the Internet, she said open houses still provide a lot more information than the Internet listing. "Open houses are typically used in normal times, and the cost to hold them is justified because of the competition in the market," Conway said. "While percentages of sales from open houses vary widely, some areas attribute a significantly higher number of sales (to the pratice)."
January 16, 2007