For the past several months, open houses have been put on pause. They started being facilitated virtually to comply with social distancing protocols. Now that these protocols are being gently lifted, will the traditional open house return to our businesses? Or can we finally take back our Sundays and allow open houses to get with the times?
The History of Open Houses
The first open house was held in Texas in 1918. Homes for sale would be open for public inspection every day from 9 am to 9 pm until a buyer was found. Realtors enticed people to view the property by offering them Coca Cola.
Various adaptations of the open house occurred over the next three decades, and in the 1950s, Sunday became the most popular day to host them.
According to this article from Realtor.com, it is suspected that Sunday was chosen because of “blue laws.” In other words, it was illegal to conduct business transactions on Sundays, so realtors would find their potential buyers on Sundays and seal the deal during the week.
To this day, even as social distancing protocols lift, we’re seeing open houses popping up on Sundays from 2-4 just like they did seven decades ago.
The Time to Evolve is Now
The virtual open house, born out of this pandemic, is the first real change in how we conduct open houses since the 1950s. Why has it taken so long to evolve?
For some buyers, house shopping on the weekend makes sense. But for many others, Sundays are when they want to spend time with family, hobbies, passions, and relaxation. It’s when most realtors would like to be re-energizing for the week ahead.
This pandemic forced people to change their behaviours and habits quickly. In a period when most of us have accepted that change and uncertainty are inevitable, there’s no better time to evolve open houses.
How Will Open Houses Look in the Future?
Open houses need to happen on other days of the week and times of the day. Why not Friday afternoons when people take off work early? Or Thursdays from 5-7 pm after work?
Virtual open houses were successful in some ways, but there must be more uses for technology in this industry. Perhaps we will start showing houses with virtual reality.
Encourage your teams to think outside the box. If an agent has a strange, unheard-of idea for an open house, be open to it. Any time you have the opportunity to grow and evolve, you should take it.
Are you ready to take back your Sundays? Run your real estate business with the most cutting-edge and modern strategies and processes. Sign up for real estate coaching to get started.
