By Tamra Haase

Was the last time you looked at a house through an open house? Or was it online?

My 30 years of experience tell me that most of you reading this article will be looking at your cell phone, iPad, or maybe your computer when searching for a new place to lay your head. Before jumping in your car, you’ll examine all the online resources that are at your fingertips.

Back in the day, on your Sunday afternoon off, you might be driving around, spending your precious gas and time off to find the house you and your family hoped to live in. Eventually, agents and brokers started having open houses on Saturday to allow people an extra day to get errands done and look for a dream house.

In the modern era, if a seller still wants to hold an open house, the listing agent will be responsive to the client. Most realtors know that an open house is a much better tool to pick up leads than it is to sell the house. The majority of open houses are visited by either nosey neighbors or members of the public looking for some cheap entertainment. Serious buyers can view your home online and then schedule a showing with a licensed real estate agent.

Open houses are inconvenient for sellers because they need to vacate their home a good half hour before the open house begins and shouldn’t return until at least 15 minutes after the open house ends. This can be a nuisance, making the seller give up three to four hours of their day off. There’s also the concern with open houses where an unqualified with potentially ignoble intentions may be casing the home.