Open houses are a business opportunity

Re: 'In protest of open houses' (May 22)

Dear Editor:

Your opinion is shared by many Realtors. However, I heartily disagree. We live in a time that technology allows us the opportunity to be mobile. I encouraged all of my agents to multitask by bringing their notebook computers with air cards into their open houses and continue their marketing from the open-house site. Today, the air cards have a greater capacity to provide information with a much quicker delivery than the old dial-up speed.

Furthermore, the best form of selling is still one-on-one. The reality is there is only about a 1 percent to 2 percent chance of a buyer walking into the open-house property and making an offer. Nevertheless, I was always taught that when we sign a seller up to list and market their property it is important to impart to that seller that our agency is like a clearinghouse.

Although the buyer may not be "offer open" to the open house property that they are looking at, it is in the best interests of all of our sellers to get them in the "open house" loop of the properties that we as an agency offer. As the gatekeeper, our agent has the ability to catch them at the door, potentially qualify them, and -- depending on our agency inventory -- direct them to another one of our sellers' properties. Instead of thinking individually about one seller, our agents are working in a team concept, which is part of our overall message to all our sellers. When you hire one of our agents, you get all of our agents helping to sell the property.

There was a time in this industry when agents did a lot of switching of properties by carrying their inventory in a book and providing the open-house participant information about other properties that the agency carried. With the advent of technology and the ability to go directly to the local MLS by laptop, agents have a greater opportunity to serve the public in an even more effective manner in finding them what properties they're interested in, on the spot.

The open house is a business opportunity for your agency. If we as an industry handle the open-house concept with that thought in mind, it is a win-win for everybody.

Tom Peterlin
Designated broker
Century 21 Seago
Tempe, Ariz.

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