Broker's Open House

A broker’s open house is a showing of a property for sale targeted to other real estate agents.

A broker’s open house is not for home buyers, but is held for agents to enable them to determine whether a property may be of interest to any of their clients. The guest list for a broker's open house is limited to other real estate agents and industry professionals. Standard open houses usually are held on Sunday afternoons because most potential buyers have weekends free for house hunting. A broker's open house usually is held midweek when agents are more available than on weekends when they are occupied with showing homes to their clients. A broker’s open house is among the tools that real estate agents use to market a home. In addition to internet marketing systems like Multiple Listing Service (MLS), it's a way to introduce a listing to industry professionals in a community.

Once an agent schedules a broker's open house, they will advise their network of industry contacts. Usually food and beverages are offered as incentive to attend. On the day of the event, visiting agents tour the property with the selling agent, mingle with colleagues amid the refreshments and discuss their opinions on the property. Broker's open houses generally are scheduled within the first few days of a property being put on the market to capitalize on the initial of interest in the new listing. And, if there is an eventual price drop or other change in marketing methods, a broker may hold another open house to spread the news.  

A professionally targeted broker's open can reduce the amount of traffic through the listing needed to market and sell the property. Agents who tour a property will consider whether it would be a good fit for any of their clients and then bring those clients to the property for a private showing in the following few days, especially if the broker's open is well attended. Real estate agents hold broker’s opens to generate interest, excitement and demand for a property to be able to sell it for the best possible price. Even if an offer does not result directly from the broker's open, it can be valuable as an opportunity to evaluate how a home compares to other similar properties for sale in the same market. The host realtor can collect feedback from the visiting realtors on the property’s perceived advantages and disadvantages and its pricing.