Any estate agents on here? Open House or not?

[squashyhat]

I am selling my deceased Father's empty house. I have spoken to two estate agents - one recommends an open house to get people through the door and one says don't bother because in the current climate nobody will come. I suspect he may not want to do it because of the extra work involved but genuinely don't know if it's likely to result in a quicker sale. I'm not in any huge hurry to sell but don't want it hanging around for a year. What should I do?

I’m selling my mothers house - was advised both ways. Decided not to as the agent recommending it was odious ! My ea did arrange viewings so that each would probably see the previous leaving/arriving but not more. Good luck op. It’s tough selling a parent’s home.

My ea did arrange viewings so that each would probably see the previous leaving/arriving but not more
Never occurred to me that this could be deliberate - my neighbour was quick to offer on a house partly because the next viewers were at the door when he came down from viewing the bedrooms - assumed there was a lot of interest!
He bought the house at a good bit over the asking price - I don't think I'll tell him!

"Current climate" depends where you are, obviously. But we went to a few open houses when we started looking (during that phase where you look at everything potentially suitable, to help understand the market). As a buyer I don't like them though, and unless I was desperate to see the house I wouldn't bother going to another. Even then, I would probably tell the agent I couldn't make the date and book a viewing for the day after.

It's a tactic to make people buy under stress and so offer more, and as some areas are turning into buyers markets, it will thankfully become less effective.

@R44Me

I wonder if I’ve met your neighbour!

I’ve been the viewer who arrived as the previous ones were coming downstairs. They offered the same afternoon, and I was just looking on a whim without even having spoken to my mortgage advisor.

We have just sold and were advised to do an open house. We went on the market and open house planned for 2 weeks later with no viewings allowed before. We got 14 viewings on the day, and were SSTC within the week with a good offer. It worked for us

I think its a good/ easy way to sell (all viewings in one day) - BUT as a buyer I find it stressful and off putting. We viewed a house last week that we liked and probably would have offered on but I didn’t want to be forced into a bidding war. I’m also sceptical as for our current house (just accepted an offer) the EA managed to push the buyer’s offer up 10k by saying there were lots of viewings the next day...

Worked for me, and the appointments were well spaced so I don't think it was pressured for viewers. Accepted an offer within 3 days, then when they withdrew, the agent pulled together a second open day and the same happened.

Very very popular street, though.