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Open Houses Don't Sell Homes · Success Is Not Convenient

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, everybody.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's Bernie Gallarandi bringing you another episode of Success is Not Convenient.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I got to tell you something really funny.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I rough I ruffled a few feathers uh recently on a video that I did, so I want to do like kind of a little follow-up to that.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what were the fun things.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: To see the the fun comments that went back and forth regarding the statement that I made about open houses has been pretty, pretty interesting.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I laugh about it because I love hearing all the people complain about certain things and other ones that had thumbs up and great job.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so this has been kind of fun.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the topic today.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Open houses isn't the problem.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's avoiding the truth that's the real problem.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Open houses, because I made a comment regarding why it why agents really do open houses.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've done some things over the last few weeks to have some fun with this.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want to share some of my thoughts on this today about open houses, about why or should you do them, should you not do them.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: These are for all my realtor friends out there, and even for my homeowners, the homeowners out there that are considering listing property.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear this message because we've been doing this for a long time.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've sold over 7,000 houses and thousands and thousands of home sales, listing sales, I should say, where we've listed and marketed and successfully sold homes.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like I have three or four homes a year or even eight or ten homes a year that I'm developing my opinion on.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is thousands and thousands of homes that we've been involved in, things that we've seen.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've also coached and trained agents all around the country.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I can tell you that sometimes these messages about uh open houses uh don't really make me the most popular, but um I still believe it's it's the truth.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: See, open houses isn't really the problem.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Avoiding the truth is.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, okay, what does that mean, Bernie?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me go a little deeper today on something that I recently talked about that sparked this crazy firestorm, I would call it, of different people with different opinions.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I said that open houses are one of the lowest forms of activity that an agent can do when the objective is actually just getting the home sold.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're hired for, guys.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're hired for getting the home sold.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: But the question I want to ask all my agent friends is what antics are you coming up with to try to actually figure out how to get them sold?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think open houses are a big part of that.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's a part of what you're avoiding that's causing you to agree to do the open house.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I've getting some pushback on some of this stuff, and that's okay.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Open houses do work for some, it depends on what your objective is.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: You might be saying, hey, I sold a house from an open house.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Buyers love open houses.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've heard things like that.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: They really love to go to open houses.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And listen, I'm not saying that nobody ever has walked in to an open house and not bought the house.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Of course they have.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that would be silly.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not the question.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that wasn't even the comment.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: The question I want agents to ask themselves is this if a seller hires me to get the home sold, what activities give that seller the greatest probability of actually getting the job done?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Follow me.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're being hired to get the home sold.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: The open house in most cases is not the seller's decision, it's your decision.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing it to satisfy what you believe is the need for the seller.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And the only thing the seller cares about, they don't care about the open house, guys.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: They just care about getting the home sold.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: See, because there's a huge difference between being busy and being effective.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Write this one down.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you're if you feel like, well, at least I'm doing something and I'm showing my sellers that I'm actually doing something, you think the seller actually cares.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: The seller just wants to get their home sold.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes real estate agents, we confuse these two things.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: The sellers don't really want an open house.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the seller.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about what they want.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Agents will tell me all the time, my sellers expect me to do open houses.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe, but I want you to think about this differently.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Your seller doesn't really want an open house.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your seller wants their house sold.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just say this to you again.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: The seller's not asking you to do an open house.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, Bernie, they are.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, they're not.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're just saying they don't care to have their house open, they just want it sold.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're creating an open house because it's taking you too long to sell it, and they're asking you what else you can do.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And open houses is something that, let me tell you, if we are back in the 70s and 80s, my gosh, open houses, I'm going to say, go get them.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Today we live in an internet world.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Our buyers go online to shop for houses.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're selling a house from an open house or we're attempting to do an open house and try to get a home sold, let's really take it for what it is.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: The seller doesn't wake up on Sunday morning thinking, boy, I really hope 12 strangers walk through my kitchen today.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're not doing that.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's not the objective.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: They want an offer.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: They want the right price.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: They want the house under contract.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they want.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And they want to get to the closing table.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: The open house is simply something they believe might help accomplish that goal.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: So when a seller asks, are you going to do an open house?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: What they're really asking you is this.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do to get my house sold?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And those are two completely different questions.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me explain this to you guys so you understand.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: In the thousands and thousands of houses that I've sold, I've sold a couple thousand of them personally.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I probably have done five open houses out of all of those listings, and I only do listings.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I work mainly with the listing process because it was kind of my wheelhouse.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: I started learning that the seller doesn't even want the open house.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: They just want the home sold.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if we do so many open houses, why do we do them?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Why are we doing so many open houses when we know that's not really the problem?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: See, today's first open house happens online.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how many buyers shop today.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Where does almost every buyer start?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: They start online.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's we're in 2026, people.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're not in 1970 or 1980.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: See, what the buyer's looking at is the house before they ever walk through the front door.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: They can see everything.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: They can do Google maps.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: They can walk down the street.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: They can look at the neighbors, they can go over, look in the backyard.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: They can see everything they want to see from the computer.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at the pictures, they're looking at the price that you put on the home.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at the location.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at the square footage of the property.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at the condition of the home.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: All of this on the pictures.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And most importantly, they're comparing the house against every other house that they're competing with for the money that they're willing to spend.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: The National Association of Realtors in 2025 says buyers and sellers research found that 52% of buyers found the home they ultimately purchased on the internet.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: 52%.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Another 27% found it through a real estate agent, meaning a real estate agent took them to another house.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So 52% actually found the house online themselves, not an open house.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: 27% was an agent bringing them to another house that they hadn't even considered.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, only 4% found the property they purchased through a combined category of the yard sign or the open house sign.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's, for the purpose of this conversation, and I don't even think it's this high because I've heard it's less than 1%, but let's assume we split that 4% in half.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: 2% from the yard sign and 2% from the open house sign.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean people don't attend open houses, because we know they do.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: They absolutely do.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, about 48% of buyers use an open house somewhere during their home search.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the distinction that agents need to understand.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Attending an open house and an open house causing the sale are two different things.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's important for all of us to understand.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: The first showing today isn't happening Sunday afternoon from two to four.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: First showing is happening at 10:30 at night while the buyer is sitting on their couch, looking at their phone, and that house better look good.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: See, people, they don't need to go into your house to make a determination about the house.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: They don't need to do that.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: They can see it all online.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: They're not going, God, I wish that house they had an open house.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: They're just going to call a realtor to open the door.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking at price, they're looking at pictures, they're looking at the condition of the home.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And after selling thousands of houses here, what I've come to believe is the three things we better get right and we better get it right right now.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is the price.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, we have to make sure we have fabulous pictures in there because pictures tell a story online.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Number three is the condition of the home.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: We better make sure the condition of the home looks very appealing for the pictures and the price that we're putting on there.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because these three things create buyers' perception of value.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: We can expose the property.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: We can advertise it if we want to.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: We can put it all over the internet if we if need be.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we can hold an open house every Saturday and every Sunday if we want to.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: But marketing cannot overcome a lack of value.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Write that one down.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Marketing cannot overcome the lack of value.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys need to understand this?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Marketing cannot overcome a lack of value.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: If a buyer looks at your house at$600,000 and then look at three competing properties and conclude those houses offer more value.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: The problem isn't that your front door hasn't been open enough.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is the value.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And opening the front door for another two hours Sunday afternoon doesn't change the value equation.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So why do agents keep doing open houses?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I gotta tell you this.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I actually did a little raising of the hand with my real estate group, and a lot of them are uh listing agents, a lot of them are buyers' agents, and I asked them, how many of you guys do open houses on your listings?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody raised their hand.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, How many of you, if you knew that you would never have to do an open house, would still want to do them?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I had one agent raise their hand, and we're gonna talk about that here in a minute.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: 99.99% of everybody had their hand out.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: So why do we do it if we know it's not successful?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it was successful, everybody would raise their hand and say, I want to do it.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're getting to the part that's going to make some of you people really uncomfortable and probably a little bit mad.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: As I believe sometimes agents do open houses because doing an open house is easier than telling the seller the truth.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's easier to do the open house.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And one of my agents I asked about, they raised their hand, they sh and here's what she said, and I she was so truthful.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: She goes, I do the open house so at least I can get that checked off so that I can go for ask for the price adjustment.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about this for a minute.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: You list the house, it's been on the market, it's not selling.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe showings have slowed down a little bit.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've had 15 showings and absolutely no offers.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe buyers are consistently saying it's overpriced.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now you've got to call the seller.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Follow me?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got two choices.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Choice number one, Mr.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: and Mrs.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Seller, we've given the market enough time to respond.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Respond to our price, respond to our pictures, respond to the marketing.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've given it enough time.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And buyers are seeing the property, but they are choosing other homes based on what the market is telling us.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I believe we need a repositioning of the price.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's not always an easy conversation to have with anybody.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's what I would call a confronting conversation that makes people feel uncomfortable.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of tension that arises in that conversational style when you have to tell somebody to adjust the price.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Doing an open house is less confronting, less tension.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: The seller might get a little upset when you say that to them.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: You may be trying to avoid that, which is what I believe.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: They might say, Well, you told me that we could get this price.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: How many times have you guys do that?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ever tell a seller they can get that price.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Please tell the seller this is what we see buyers are paying for houses like yours today.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Don't recommend the price because it puts you in a position of responsibility.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Why should I reduce it?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is what you told me.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Why aren't you marketing the house more?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing for the commission that I'm going to be paying you?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now the agent has to have a real conversation, a professional conversation.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or there's another option.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: The agent can say, you know what?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do another open house this weekend.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Holla friggin' luya.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go out there and spend two or three hours having an open house where nobody shows up.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens is suddenly everybody feels a little bit better.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of dealing with the confronting of what we have to do to make a price adjustment, we're just saying, okay, well, we'll just do another house.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta tell you, it sickens me when I see all the agents on the weekends that are out there putting all their signs out there.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what a sucker.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because they won't spend any time to learn how to price property.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: What saddens me is many of you realtors are leaving your families on the weekends, going out and putting up.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I mean, I've driven early in the morning where I'm going out somewhere and I'll see an agent out there real early putting open house signs up.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you know they're probably doing an open house between like 10 and 12 or 11 and 1 or 12 and 2, whatever it is they're doing it, right?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they're putting the signs out early.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just going, all they have to do is learn to understand that sellers don't care about open houses.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: They just care about selling the house.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: You and I both know that's the lowest activity any realtor could do, but yes, it's rampant in our business.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: See, so they just feel better because you feel better, they feel better, you don't have to do any confronting.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So you just go out there and do the open house.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: The seller feels like something is actually happening, that you're doing something for them.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: The agent feels like they're actually doing something because they're doing an open house, and everybody avoids the uncomfortable conversation.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But the problem hasn't changed.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Activity can become a way to avoid accountability.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what I really want agents to think about right here.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes activity becomes a substitute for accountability.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let me go to this again.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes activity, meaning the open houses, makes everybody feel good, it's a substitute for the accountability.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: I asked my agents how many of them actually sold a home from an open house, and everybody said zero.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I can't even imagine the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours spent.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And thus is this the dangerous, vicious circle we're all in because our job isn't to make the seller feel like we're working.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Our job is to advise the seller on what the market is telling us.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: And if buyers consistently reject the property at the current price, we need to talk about price.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's our job.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're supposed to be the professional in the room.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: The seller hired us because we're supposed to understand what's going on in the market.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So why would we avoid telling them what the market is saying?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we I know why we do it, but I'm asking you, why do you do it?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And why do you do the open houses and why do you avoid it?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why it is it's uncomfortable for you.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why it's uncomfortable for you is you don't want to have tension in your life.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: But that's our job.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Our job is to cause the home to sell.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: We have to have an uncomfortable conversation.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine if you had some sort of a disease or something?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: You went to the doctor and they they they tested you, you had cancer or something, and the doctor just let you go home and didn't tell you because he didn't want to see you break down or she didn't want to see you break down and cry.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's not responsible.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: See, because we're afraid that they're going to be mad at us for asking for a price adjustment, because we're afraid that they're going to blame us for something, that's exactly when the seller needs us the most.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can be like every other agent and just be a yes person to do an open house.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, if I didn't, I'm sitting here today telling you from absolutely success, 2,000 houses sold and maybe five open houses.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the first year I was in the business because I didn't know what I was doing.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I started leaning, I started meeting all of these really successful agents around the country, and they're like, no, we don't do open houses.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, only one that does open houses is the ones that can't confront their seller and tell them the truth.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Great agents don't run from the tension.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Here's something that I've learned in the sales process.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: The conversations we avoid are often the conversations we most need to have with people.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Average agents try to remove tension.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Great agents learn how to manage the tension.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: See, here's the difference.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about arguing with your seller.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about even beating them up on the price.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's not where I'm going with this.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about even saying, I told you so.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, I told you it wouldn't sell.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I told you that price was too high.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about sitting down with them and looking objectively at the evidence.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: The evidence are the numbers.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: You guys have heard this a million times.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Numbers never lie.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, if a house doesn't get a lot of activity on it, and then occasionally somebody comes in and makes an offer on it and it works out.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I call bean counting.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's like occasionally that happens, but it's not likely, right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what has sold.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here is our current competition, guys.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Mr.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: and Mrs.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Seller, here's our current competition.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Here's how many showings that we've had.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the feedback that we're receiving on your property.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what buyers are actually choosing instead of us.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then ask the seller a great question.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Based on what the market is telling us, what do you think we need to do to create more value in the eyes of the buyer?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're not fighting the seller, you're looking at the market with the seller.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: You and the seller are working.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say I'm a real estate consultant.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Don't list it with me, list it with me.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to tell you the truth, whether you like it or not.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I'll have to say to a seller, because the seller's been mad at me many, many times when I've asked them for fairly large price adjustments.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll say to them, My job isn't to say something that makes you feel good.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: My job is to tell you the truth to get your home sold.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can make the decision if you want to adjust the price.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying that the market is respond not responding to our price and an adjustment is needed.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: See, that's called professional selling.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: You don't determine the value, and neither does the seller.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the biggest things that I personally teach.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: The seller has a perceived value, the agent has a recommended value, but ultimately the buyer determines the market value.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, listen to me.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are three evaluations of homes.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Use this in your presentation.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It is gold.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm giving you a gold line here.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've used it so long, it works fabulous.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Mr.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: and Mrs.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Seller, you have an evaluation of property, and that's typically based on the money you've invested, the payments that you've made, the time that you lived in the home, your emotional connection to raising your family here, your neighbors, your friends, your opinion based on tax records.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you determine it.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: I actually determine it by comps comparables and looking at what houses have sold for recently.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the third is the buyer's perception of your home.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll ask them, which one of those three things is the most important?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, they'll usually say the realtor.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say, you know, I appreciate that.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's actually what most people say.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: But did you know that the buyer is the only one that matters on the value?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Our opinions don't really matter.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: See, the seller can say to us, hey, I need 700,000.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's fine.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: They want to try it at 700,000.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: The agent can say, Well, I think it's worth 675.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's fine too, right?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're just guessing.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Seller's guessing, I'm guessing.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: We're just guessing because we don't know anything until the buyer actually shows up.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: But if qualified buyers repeatedly look at that property and decide that they would rather spend$650 on that house down the street, you're dead in the water.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: They chose another house because it was$25,000 less.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: The market is talking to us now.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's no longer our opinion.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually the buyers giving us the opinion.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the buyer's opinion is the only thing that really matters.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our job is just to listen and pay attention.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And more importantly, our job is to help the seller listen.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to say this again.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Our job is to help the seller listen to the truth.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the great listing agents earn their commission.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not putting balloons on mailboxes, not sitting in the kitchen for three hours hoping somebody comes in, having the conversation that changes the outcome.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's be clear here about open houses.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be totally clear about something.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Open houses aren't completely worthless.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: They're not.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, they can be great for one particular thing.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Prospecting.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're an opportunity for agents to meet buyers.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the one agent I told you that had their hand up and says they like doing them, she says, Well, I get a lot of buyers off it.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: If that's your objective, then I love it.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then go ahead and do it.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do open houses, and I don't do it to satisfy the need of my seller.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I just tell my seller the truth.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do some math with you real quick.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Put the amount of hours you spend monthly on an open house and then times that by 12 for every month that you spend, and times that by five, ten, fifteen, twenty years.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Think about all the weekends that you spent away from your family.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's nauseating to think that you're kissing your wife or your husband goodbye to go do an open house and you're doing the least productive activity that the National Association of Realtors has any realtor could ever do.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not my research.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Go to the NARS site.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Five percent of buyers found the agent they eventually used by meeting that agent.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Agent at an open house.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: So is an open house to get the house sold?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's for agents to meet new buyers.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're trying to find new buyers, go spend all the time doing that.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I want you to think about this.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: A buyer walks into your open house.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: They don't like the house, but you start talking to them.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: You discover that they're looking for something, right?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Something particular.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: So you do a follow-up and you show them another property.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually they buy something else through you.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's a useful tool, right?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's fantastic because you got to be able to cultivate that relationship.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't have met them any other way.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's perfectly fine.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're a brand new agent trying to figure this thing out, go do as many open houses as you can because it's a great prospecting tool.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Let's call it exactly what it is.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lead generation tool.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a newer agent and you're trying to build a database, that's a great thing to do.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and do that.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to meet a bunch of people.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's incredible.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not saying don't do them.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying don't do them for the false idea or evidence that you think you're doing it for your seller.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because the only thing you're doing for your seller is avoiding the conversation.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that there's nothing wrong with working with that tool if that's what you're trying to do.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're a listing agent, I want you guys to hear me.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you're doing an open house and not trying to pick up a buyer, the question you have to ask yourself is this why am I doing it and not perfecting a skill to have a really good conversation with my seller so I don't have to sit here in an open house because you can do open houses every single Sunday for a year.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And if that price is wrong, that condition is wrong, you're never going to sell that house.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: So let's not confuse what it really is.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is a good prospecting tool if you're doing an open house.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's an opportunity.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is the most effective thing that I can do to get my seller's household.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: What is it?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's telling them the truth.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Those are two completely different objectives telling them the truth or doing an open house for prospecting.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the real question for you guys.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when a listing isn't selling, don't automatically ask, should we do an open house?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Ask this question to yourself.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Why isn't the house selling?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question a professional asks.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Do we have enough exposure?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Are the pictures good enough today for the internet?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Are they driving people to be excited?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Is the condition hurting us?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is the condition of the home hurting us?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: How does the house compare with the competition in the area?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Are buyers showing it online but not scheduling appointments?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are buyers showing up but not writing offers?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: What is the market really telling us about that house?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because every one of those things tells us something.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if nobody is seeing the house, maybe we have an exposure problem, not an open house problem, an exposure.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, people shop online, they don't go to open houses that often.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: 4% signs and open houses, 52% internet.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Make it attractive online.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's where they shop.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: See, if buyers are clicking on it, maybe we have a presentation problem.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: They're clicking on it, but they're not doing anything with it.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: If buyers are showing it but nobody is writing an offer, we very well may just have a value or condition issue.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: And when we have a value problem, we need to have a price conversation, not another activity conversation.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers deserve the truth.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want agents to really understand.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: The seller didn't hire you to avoid uncomfortable conversations, they hired you to get them to the finish line.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the truth is exactly what the seller doesn't want to hear, but that's why they hired a professional agent.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you're afraid to talk about price because you're worried about upsetting your seller, ask yourself this: who am I protecting?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Am I protecting my seller?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or am I protecting myself from an uncomfortable conversation?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because doing another open house might make everybody feel good for about a week, but feeling good isn't the objective.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Getting the house sold is the only objective you're looking for.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if the market is telling us that we're overpriced, the most valuable thing can be done isn't spend another Sunday afternoon sitting in a house.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: The most valuable thing I can do is sit across from my seller, show them evidence, tell them the truth, and help them make the decision.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's what professional representation looks like.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Activity doesn't sell houses, the right activity does.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not anti-open house, I'm anti-confusing activity with results.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's a huge difference.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you're holding an open house to prospect for buyers, great, go ahead and keep doing it.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you believe there's a strategic reason an open house will benefit a particular listing, great, do it.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: But when a house has been exposed to the market, when buyers have seen it online, when they're touring it and they're consistently choosing the competition, stop trying to solve the price problem with a marketing activity.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's the message.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot market your way out of being overpriced.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to say this again.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot market yourself of being overpriced.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can't mark out of that.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot protect a seller from the truth and simultaneously claim that you're representing their best interest.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, I've said this for years.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's like real estate malpractice.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know the truth.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know it's not going to help you, but yet you still do it.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Think about how crazy that is.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the greatest service that you can give your seller is the conversation that you least want to have with them.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: I understand that it's difficult.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: I understand that it's challenging.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: I understand you don't like confrontation.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: I understand you don't like making the seller feel uncomfortable.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: But are you really worried about the seller being uncomfortable or is it really your emotion of being uncomfortable?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've shared this and coached this for years when I tell my agents, you're not saying that because you think it's going to make them feel uncomfortable.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're saying that because it makes you feel uncomfortable.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a solution for that.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to look at the numbers.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at all the competition.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at all the buyer feedback.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what has actually sold.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Then sit down with your seller and tell them what the market is telling you.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of this day, the goal isn't an open house.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: The goal isn't more activity on the house.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: The goal isn't making the seller think that we're busy.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to get the house sold.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the fastest path to getting it done isn't opening the front door.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's having the courage to have the conversation with your seller.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, I'm going to say this to you.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I said this to my group when we talked about this, as I shared with you in the beginning of this video, the reason why you do an open house is because you don't want confrontation.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And what you feel is that you're getting high confrontation because you don't know what to say.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: So is it an open house issue?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a confusion issue with the seller because you don't really like frustration to be between you and your seller?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a lack of skill having that conversation?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: What is it for you?
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because you don't have to do it to sell the house, but you may do it for prospecting.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, thank you for your time today.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you got a lot out of this video.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to hit the like button, the subscribe button, or just write me a note, good or bad, I'd like to hear it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Hope everybody has a great day.