OPEN HOUSES....a Neccessary Evil?

 As a Realtor, of course I have had my share of "Open Houses" and some have had great attendance and others...well lets just say I got totally caught up on my reading. (In fact finished one book in "Twilight" series...)
 But as an agent we all at one time or another have held Open Houses. Our clients expect them, we are told we need them, send out multiple eflyers in hopes that they get OPENED, and sit patiently and wait for the next car to pull up in the driveway. Some good does eventually come from them, usually one or two good leads, but am I the ONLY Realtor that feels they leave me FLAT????
 I think we should all UNITE, no matter what company we are with we all have the ultimate goal in mind...to sell our clients house! We can not rely only on MLS to get or listings seen and SHOWN. And now let me add one more thing to the table, these new signage regulations. I mean has there EVER been another situation so perfectly in line with the saying "a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch"? I for one see the need in having signage on roads leading to an open house, what if it is not on a main street and so far back in a subdivision that no one could find it otherwise? I have ALWAYS taken down the signs when I am finished but now that some have decided to leave them cluttering the roadway we are going to be fined for putting them up? This is terrible for our business, we have to be able to show that we are having an Open House...are they suppose to just drive around all day until they maybe find it or just GIVE UP? Because lets face it no matter how computer savy WE are many buyers are just driving around without HAR access...
 Ok, so I am not suppose to be ranting, but I am very frustrated by the new regulations which has made an already strained situation that much harder.   Back to what I said earlier about trying to UNITE openhouses. If we had an avenue to get the word out to other realtors without opening countless eflyers and emails about open houses for Broker/Agents I think we would be more likely to attend them. I also think that if we would unite with other realtors in the same area to cross promote our PUBLIC openhouses we would have greater numbers of vistors and potential BUYERS all while sharing the advertsing cost that goes along with promoting the open house.
 These are my thought, we all have them BE HONEST you have thought about this RIGHT? So lets start this discussion and iron out better OPEN HOUSES, so we can meet at the closing table instead of being at an EMPTY one!
Let me know your thoughts fellow REALTORS, I look forward to hearing from you...

Kimberly McCampbell
"The McCampbell Team"
GMAC Houston Home Sales
kim@themccampbellteam.com
281-652-6725