Do serious buyers attend open houses in NYC?

[m_b85]

Hey guys, this is not the first time I've been asked this by a client. But why do some sellers think that open houses are not effective? Please see below for an email from a seller client of mines who's doubting the effectiveness of open houses in NYC. She seems to think that serious buyers would make private showing requests vs attend an open house which I disagree with. Open to hearing suggestions and thoughts from the community.

Good evening,

I just wanted to check-in since I'm concerned about the apt listing and would love to hear your thoughts! While I think we generally hear positive feedback about the apt at the Open Houses, my concern is folks attending the Open Houses are without an agent and too early in their search. I know there are always cases where someone seasoned does put in an offer after an OH but wondering if that may be more of the exception vs. the norm.

I've been surprised by the lack of buyer's agents/clients reaching out to make individual appts during the week which seems different than a year ago. I understand it may be a different market today so what is the market is like right now for similar 2 bedroom units specifically in the Hudson Heights/Washington Heights area such as average time on market, average list price?

I'm still for the Open Houses and thank you for all of the time and effort managing them.. Is there anything else at our disposal to try and drum up interest and hopefully more individual appts with serious clients/brokers? Email blasts to local agents with property info sheets? Featured Listing on StreetEasy?

Just a heads up, this week's schedule is a little limited - the apt can only be shown this Friday 5/4 at anytime and is available for an hour long OH this Sunday 5/6 12-1pm depending on your schedule. And I'm thinking we skip the OH next week 5/13 due to the Mother's Day holiday unless we want to make it an after work weekday one. As we approach summer and folks go out of town, should we consider moving OH to early evenings after work appt only? If so, Wed work best with my schedule but Thursdays could also work in a pinch.

Thanks,
Jennifer

[m_b85]

Here is my response to the seller client by the way. Open to any suggestions from the community, and ideas or tips on how you would approach this question.

Hi Jennifer, I understand your concerns about marketing the apartment but I think our experience is consistent with the market given the location and time of year. I'd say that 75-80% of the attendees are serious buyers who have been represented by brokers. Most buyers attend many open houses and then hone in on the properties they are most interested in. At this time of year, there's lots of activity from people who are just starting their searches. We try to identify those who are pre-qualified & pre-approved for a mortgage as that's an indication of whether they are serious and most of our attendees have been.

As for average length of time on the market, 45 to 90 days is the norm and, as you can see from the info below, the average length of time on the market for comparable currently listed Hudson Heights is 89 days:

263 Bennett Ave $625,000 #5F 67 days
359 Ft Washington Ave $579,000 #5E 154 days
245 Bennett Ave $560,000 #1A 47 days

For comparable units that sold in the last 90 days the average length of time on the market has been considerably longer at 177 days.

273 Bennett Ave $589,000 8G 107 days
371 Fort Washington Ave $635,000 4F 248 days

I think we're right on course in continuing to do open houses because they offer the best exposure, generating the most interest and traffic. We follow up and stay in contact with the attendees so that our listing stays on their radar screens and so that we can determine serious interest. Brokers look carefully at the many sites on which we list so I'm confident that we're not missing any and, as for private appointments, they are usually scheduled because the weekend open houses aren't convenient. Limiting ourselves to private appointments would significantly reduce the marketability of your home.

We always welcome your input and I will discuss with my manager whether he thinks we should be doing anything additional or different. You have a lovely apartment, with an ideal location in it's neighborhood, that is highly marketable. We look forward to getting it sold!

[lemayday]

I think it's pretty clear that serious buyers attend open houses in NYC! Some buyers (like myself) would much prefer to be able to show up vs. having to make an appointment. There's less pressure (and lower expectations) with an open house vs. a private appointment. Therefore I'm more likely to go and see see the property and have interest in it compared to if I had to make an appointment.