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Open Houses Mean More Now

Before the rule changes that happened in August, open houses were used by listing agents (and other agents in their office) to generate buyer leads.  With the new rules, a buyer must commit to a brokerage and sign a buyer representation agreement before they can view a home.  But open houses are an exception to the requirement to sign a represention agreement. With the rule changes, there are qualified buyers that want to tour homes but aren’t ready to sign a Buyer Representation Agreement.  Open houses allow these buyers to tour homes.

Because of the changes, I believe that an open house on the first weekend when the house goes on the MLS is a must. It dosesn’t cost the listing agent anything to post their open houses on the MLS, which then will also show up on Zillow, Realtor.com, SloCountyHomes, etc.  Years back, an agent would pay the Tribune $50 to advertise their upcoming open house in the Saturday Real Estate section. 

I have also added an Open House search to the menu.  This is a one-click access to upcoming Open Houses in a city.  I get my data from the MLS.