Open House Results

Short Answer: A Bust.

House #2 (Saturday)

I got to the property about an hour before the open house was scheduled to begin. I went around and double-checked things, opened the blinds, and turned on all the lights. I put balloons on the signs I bought and put them out in front of the house and at an intersection outside the subdivision. I didn't really know how many people would show, so I bought several 12-packs of soda, some cookies, and mints and laid them all out as well. I had a sign-in sheet and flyers laying on the bar, also.

And then I just waited.

Around 2:30p, I saw someone pulling up, so I got waited for them to come in. Just then my cell phone rang. It was from someone with a Houston area code. I looked out the front window and noticed the person was on a cell phone, too, so I thought maybe it was the same person. Sure enough, I opened the door and the man said he was calling the number just then. I asked him to come in and take a look around. We chatted while he was looking around as he seemed to have a laundry list of questions to ask. He said he was looking for a 4BR in the area. I told him I actually had a 4BR for sale/rent, also, although, it was located further south. I told him I was having an open house on it the following day, so he could swing by and take a look at it.

The man said he and his wife are moving over from Houston (hence, the call from Houston). He said he went through a divorce a while back and his credit is shot because of it. He also had a business which failed at the same time. However, he recently remarried and is looking to start fresh in the Austin area. H said he starts work this coming week at a new job, which, he said on more than one occasion, should pay $60k+/yr. He said his wife is also looking for a job, which should bring in more money. His exact words after telling me all this was, "So, if you pull my credit, it won;t look very good." Ugh. His intentions were to rent for a year or so and then buy the house via owner financing. I told him it was a definate possibility.

For the next 1.5 hours I got absolutely no traffic at all. I saw a couple cars drive, stop, and the person get out to get a flyer, but no one came in. I didn't know how many people would come through initially, but I thought it would be a lot more than ONE - especially, since it was a gorgeous day for riding around looking at open houses. Maybe people were gearing up for the coming holiday week??? I was just totally disappointed.

House #1 (Sunday)

The man who came buy House #2 on Saturday said he was going to look at another house in the area on Sunday, but would swing by House #1 afterwards. Sure enough, he came by the house around 2:30p. He really liked the house, but had a couple of reservations. First, he said he needed four TRUE bedrooms. In House #1, the 4th BR is really a nursery/study/exercise room as it is joined by the master BR via double doors. He also didn't like the monthly lease price of $1,195. I made it artifically high to attract buyers more than renters, therefore, if someone wanted to rent at that price, I would make some decent cash flow. Lastly, he wanted a house that already had ALL the appliances installed (i.e., fridge, washer, dryer). I told him that I'd probably throw in a fridge if someone was serious about renting, but would not throw in a W/D unless the leasee was committed on a long-term contract.

He said the other house he went to view before this one was a 2-story, was all-electric (he preferred gas for cooking), had a msaller family room, but had 4 true bedrooms, was priced about $150/mo cheaper, and had all the appliances already. I told him it would probably be a tough decision then. He wants his wife to come out and look before committing to anything, and asked if I would be available this weekend to show the house, which I said "Yes."

Again, that was the ONLY person who came through to look at the house. I was even more disappointed this time than with House #2's showing.

I discussed some other options with my wife later that night. I told her we could put ads in the Green Sheet and/or local paper. We could also pay $400 and get an MLS listing via one of those flat fee listing services. Lastly, we could lose some profit on the backend and have a Realtor list both houses. I'm strongly leaning towards the last option (the Realtor). We'll lose around $7500-$8000 in seller's commission fees alone, but it may be worth it to get these places sold quicker. Of course, we are running into the absolute worse time for selling a home, so even that may not be too promising.