No way, they will screw it up somehow. I won't have that. Would you Debbie?

Hi Debbie - I discuss marketing strategies during the listing presentation - it does not include sellers in attendance at open house events let alone holding it open themselves.  

Debbie,

OMG, who gave them that idea!  It makes me coo coo just thinking about it, and you must have guessed my answer is NO!  No one will feel comfortable looking around, and I can just see one the sellers trying to show the house...Perfect scenario for a real estate sit com.  A

 It's been at least 10 years since I've held an open house.  No I did not nor would not want my sellers holding their own.

Heck NO. I have a situation right now where the buyer went behind their agent's back to meet with my sellers and now we have attorneys involved. Don't do it. 

I can think of plenty of reasons why it's a very bad idea - however - can one prevent the owners from doing it?

It is very usual but Yes as long as I am there and we have a sign up sheet.

No.  Please go away.  Go to a movie, go to a restaurant, go see grandma just go away.  I do not want my license in jeopardy because some homeowner says or does the wrong thing.

Well, first, it's not up to me to allow it or not. It's their house, so if they want to show it to potnetial buyers, they can. But, I would give them some suggestions on what to say or not say, and to have another person with them for safety reasons, and a few other tips, and would prepare some flyers for them.

Debbie - I just couldn't see a situation where that would be beneficial in any way. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and I would not recommend that a seller hold their own open house.

I would strongly discourage it.  If they feel that they still want to I will advise them once again that the commission is still in force and that any problems they make are not mine to fix.  

This is a very interesting question. I would advise again holding their own open house. There are too many risks to be considered. 

Couldn't we all think of many reasons why that would not be a good idea?  

Oh sure, because I don't have quite enough screwed up transactions!

I've never been asked by a seller. I would strongly discouraged that practice.

It is their house.

They hired the agent to HELP them sell their house.

In the presence of this request, the agent should take note that the home owner believes something is lacking in the agents program.

My recommendation is to address the cause. 

OPEN HOUSES are highly effective tools for very specific purposes. 

What the agent needs to do is squeeze to the fifth level THEN they can see the issue and create the strategy that will assuage the home owners REAL concern.

The bonus is the awareness to take action to preempt such doubt surfacing in the mind of future sellers.

Debbie Reynolds No, I would not allow it. Too many potential issues.

Absolutely NO WAY. The seller can kill a sale faster than it can start. 

I've not had a seller ask to do this... but why would they do that? Afterall, as long as we have a valid listing agreement, they have to pay us no matter how the buyer is found.

I think it can be a liabilty issue. Too many things can go wrong unless the sellers are experienced .

I have friends who bought their investment house through me so as a favour I would rent it out for them for no commission. Due to it being a high traffic and super-desired area and I wanted to lease this thing right away so we did an open house. For fun she wanted to handle the first people who came in. She managed to give them the wrong info on the home, the law, and managed to offend them in two minutes.

I handled the next three people, two of whom asked me to produce offers to lease. She thought I was a good agent before but now she knows I'm great and that it's not easy.

Hi Debbie,

Absolutely not! My marketing plan does not include the seller even attending an open house I hold open! I can't think of anything wore than a seller inviting consumers into their home..how uncomfortable!

Phew, I thought some of the answers would astound me...not so..never, never!

I discourage it with intensity!  It's like having them conduct their own showing and we all know how poorly that turns out.

Good morning Debbie. I absolutely would not, during an open house, I'd rather see them gone during that time period.

 I've never heard of anybody doing their own open house. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Aloha Debbie,

Yikes,  a nightmare on elm street immediately comes to mind or the scene in Raider's of The Lost Arch where Indiana Jones falls in pit full of poisonous snakes. I couldn't a imagine a more problematic situation than allowing one's clients to be present at an open house let alone have them host one. There is much potential for disaster in this equation, the most reckless part is I wouldn't be present. The horror!

a hui hou,

I haven't had that opportunity, but I would not allow it.  It's not good for the Seller to talk to potential buyers.

No , just something for them to give something away or repair something o who knows what else they give away. great question have a super weekend