Evening Open Houses?

I have an idea on which I'm interested in input from the public. We have traditionally done almost all open houses on Sunday afternoons. That isn't true everywhere in the country, since I have noticed that, in Arizona, Saturday seems to be just as common as Sunday. There is an historical logic to the current pattern, since people were usually less busy on Sunday afternoons. The idea of going to open houses seemed to fit in with the practice of taking Sunday drives.

Today's world is different. Children's sports, in particular, take no holidays. Sunday afternoons may be as jam-packed as any other day. In addition, weather is a huge factor. All real estate agents know that there is a bell curve for attendance--if the weather is too bad, no one comes, and, if the weather is too good, no one comes. For busy people, a great day may just be too precious to pass up.

So why not vary the routine? If you are like I am, you may prefer to squeeze in all you can into the work week, leaving bigger blocks of weekend time for other things, especially outdoor activities. In this season of extra light, we could hold open houses late in the day, and interested parties could stop on their way home from work or picking up kids. Even for commercial properties, this idea has appeal. Many owners and managers are too busy to take time out to look at space during the work day. We could serve wine and cheese, and let people take their time after the end of the work day to explore real estate options. Even agents would benefit, as it would leave weekend time to work with buyers.

We have tried this a few times, at least in residential, but it hasn't caught on. I'm curious as to why it has not. What do you think?

Adding Value to Luxury Listings

Today's New York Times had an amusing but informative article today about things people have done to raise the prices on their properties. Perhaps the most extreme example was a seller who regrouted the bathroom tile and added $100,000 to the estimated value of the listing, on the theory that cracked and dirty grouting would tend to make buyers think that they would need to do a major bathroom renovation. Another broker told of a client who changed the kitchen cabinets and repainted, thereby getting an offer $100,000 higher than the broker had anticipated.

Most of the examples involved big dollars, but obvious pointers: Get rid of the clutter. Clean the rugs. If you are a landlord, put in new appliances. Replace towels and bath mats with fluffy new ones. Improve the lighting. We all know these things, but it's sometimes hard to think objectively about a place we've lived, especially when the expense incurred will benefit the new owner and not ourselves. It's worth doing things that improve either curb appeal or the initial impact during a showing. Last week's Times real estate section even talked about a new trend of using pets (well behaved and freshly groomed) to make open houses more homey. Who knows? Fido might even replace the tried-and-true cookie baking, to fill the home with a delicious aroma.

The best story, however, was the last example in the article. One broker tells her clients to go out and buy 25 pairs of expensive designer shoes, which will pay for themselves in a higher sales price, as "people want to step into your life". Isn't that like the closet envy scene in the first Sex and the City movie? Well, if it works, what woman wouldn't want two dozen new pairs of great shoes?