The first questions I get from my sellers are "Do you think we need to have an open house?" and "Do you ever get a buyer from an open house?'

The fact is, while I personally have had many open houses, (sometimes as many as five on the same day with help from my assistants and agents in my office), I have discovered that they are not very effective for most properties.

The only time I have ever sold a house directly from an open house was when a house was in the $100,000 to $300,000 range and was the most completely renovated, cutest, yuppiest home in a really hot close-in, upscale neighborhood. In those instances I crafted the open house in such a way that we received multiple same-day offers. The house would have sold just as well with traditional marketing and no open house, but by using this technique, I made sure everyone was introduced to the property at the same time, therefore accelerating demand and maximizing price. This technique is not appropriate for every home, especially those homes in higher price ranges.

Open houses tend to be an opportunity for agents to get leads on new prospective buyers currently looking without an agent. We have discovered have found that many of the "buyers" who attend open houses are the same people every week, for whom open houses are a form of recreation. Most have no intention of buying this house or any house. Between them and curious neighbors at open houses and very few real customers. The legitimate customer would find the house through his own Realtor, or through the internet, or by simply driving by the house and calling off the yard sign. "By Appointment Only" is today becoming the standard of home-showing for a variety of reasons.

Open houses should be used sparingly and with thought to target marketing. If we are not bringing people in any other way, an open house might generate interest but we have to look at what other factors are keeping that home from selling first. Chief among these factors is always price. A house priced too high will not benefit from an open house.

A very real factor to consider in having an open house is the security and safety issue. We are alerted of instances where a small group of 3 people will attend open houses. While 2 distract the Realtor, the third searches the medicine cabinets for prescription medication. Sometimes it's the silver chest. These things are happening more and more.

So what is the solution? Having an Internet virtual tour of your house is convenient and secure. The virtual tour shows just enough of the house to give a customer incentive to see the house, but doesn't show the customer where valuables are. To see the house in person, he must come with a legitimate Realtor. This way, only legitimate, qualified buyers are allowed access. Potential buyers seeing your house are on record. It is smart security.

Bottom line on open houses:

• Avoid open houses. Less wear and tear on you. More security.

New Age of "Virtual Open House"

We can now sell houses based solely on thier Internet pictures and the iPIX Virtual Tour images, without the buyer first setting foot in the house itself.

The following story is true:

A seller contacted me as a result of my broadcast media advertising. I made a presentation and he asked me to list his house. We placed a complete virtual tour on my personal website "HomeNashville.com". One week later, a fellow Realtor called me with an out of town client moving back to Nashville who had called her specifically about this house after seeing the virtual tour on the Internet. They knew this was the house for them (It had a pool), but could not travel to Nashville until the following week. Because there was so much initial market interest in the house, I told them we could not wait until next week for them to see it in person… so they bought it without visiting in person. They liked what they saw on the virtual tour so much, they made a full-price offer sight unseen. The next week they arrived for the inspection phase and confirmed that they made the right choice. They live there today, enjoying their pool.