The honest version
Serious buyers in Calgary work with a REALTOR®, see new listings the day they hit the MLS® system, and book a private showing. They do not wait until Sunday, so your home is far more likely to sell to someone from a booked showing than to a walk-in.
It is also worth saying plainly that open houses are a good source of new clients for whoever hosts them. Not a reason to avoid one — just a reason the question why this one deserves a straight answer.
What they are genuinely good for
- Concentrating your first weekend. A listing gets its largest burst of attention in the first days. An open house that weekend converts curiosity into foot traffic while interest is at its peak.
- Neighbours. They will come, and some have a sister or a colleague who has been trying to get into the neighbourhood for two years. A real source of buyers, and the one people dismiss.
- Volume of reaction. A busy two hours tells you more about your price and presentation than four private showings spread over ten days.
- Homes that need to be walked to be understood — unusual layouts, a view, a lot that photographs badly.
Run one in the first two weeks while attention is high. Running the same open house every weekend for two months mostly signals that a home is not selling.
When to skip it
Security first — strangers walk through unaccompanied, so valuables, medication and documents leave the house, and nobody should host a large home alone. Beyond that, skip it if the home is rural or hard to find, if it is tenanted and the tenant objects, if privacy matters at the upper end, or if the listing has run long enough that the honest fix is a price decision rather than another Sunday.
Whoever hosts should know the house, the street and the comparable sales well enough to answer properly. Ask who runs your showings before you sign →