CHICAGO – April 21, 2015 – To make their open houses stand out, some real estate pros veer from the traditional weekend afternoon by opening their listings' doors at night. As the weather warms up and days stretch out, some agents host open houses on weekday evenings. Twilight open houses usually occur at dusk, about 4 to 6 p.m., and sometimes later.
Twilight open houses became more popular after the housing crisis as real estate pros were looked for new ways to catch potential buyers' attention and compete against a backdrop of many other homes for sale at the time. But now, some agents say they use twilight open houses for some of their most unique listings.
A Chicago brokerage, @properties, specializes in twilight open houses as full-scale, invitation-only events. For example, the brokerage held a twilight open house when 20 energy efficient homes in a new development in Skokie were for sale. The brokerage paid for a bartender and caterer to try to lure more potential buyers after work to the twilight open house. It worked: About 100 people showed up and four homes sold.
Kelly Evans with RE/MAX Estate Properties in Redondo Beach, Calif., says she holds twilight open houses occasionally but reserves it for unique properties. Unlike traditional open houses, buyers aren't as likely to just follow a yard sign and show up, she says. In fact, most potential buyers who see an open house sign on a weekday or evening many times assume an agent had a weekend open house and just forgot to remove the sign.
To avoid confusion, agents say with a twilight open house usually make it an invitation-only event on a weeknight, making it an offer for a special viewing to current clients, past clients, an entire building or neighborhood.
"I don't use it very often. It's very property-specific," Evans told realtor.com. "It's only for that house that has panoramic views, or there's a harvest moon – something to draw people in."
Source: "At the Twilight Open House, a Novel Approach to Home Sales," realtor.com® (April 3, 2015)
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