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Home Buyers & Sellers

Stage 3 Reopening – Should Public Open Houses be Allowed?

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When the Economy started to shut down as a result of COVID-19, Real Estate services were deemed to be essential by the Ontario Provincial Government.  The one main exception to this, is that public open houses were deemed to be non-essential and were banned.

With the announcement of Phase 3, public open houses are now allowed, as long as there are less than 50 people in the home and that masks are worn.  Despite the recommended protocols set out by the Ontario Real Estate Association, my Brokerage and strongly believe that public open houses continue to be non-essential, and a public safety risk to both buyers and sellers.

The myth is that open houses are needed to sell homes. The reality is that an open house is a marketing tool for agents to find new clients. The odds of selling a home from a public open house are in the low single digits. They are designed as a lead generation tool above all else; secondarily, they are used to show the homeowner the agent is actively working, and – knock on wood – maybe a buyer materializes for the home in the process.

If you need ‘proof’ that open houses don’t sell houses, the numbers don’t lie. Since mid-March, the province has prohibited public open houses. Sales in June and the first half of July are running ahead of last year.  Feel free to reach out to me, as I would be happy to provide you with market data to illustrate this.

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Most serious home buyers start with an online search.  That is why it is absolutely imperative for sellers to select an agent who will fully utilize the best digital technology to market their homes.  Listings today should have multiple photos of the property in fine detail, floor plans, 3D models of the home, video tours of the home and neighbourhood, and even online room measuring tools. 

Rushing back to the “old” way of doing things is a recipe to invite the virus to rampage again.

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