Open house/No open house when showing rental

Albrightsville, PA · Member since 2018 · 118 posts · 79 votes

What is the consensus of having an Open house when showing a rental? We have done them and it has worked out and done them and they not worked out.
Curious what others think.

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Drew SygitBusiness Member

Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes

7mo

Quote from @Shane Ward:

What is the consensus of having an Open house when showing a rental? We have done them and it has worked out and done them and they not worked out.
Curious what others think.

Last option if a property isn't renting.

Most attendees will be nosy neighbors and "tire-kickers", so waste of time otherwise.

[email protected]248-209-6824

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Michael K GallagherBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7mo
I am a bit old school and I still like to meet the tenants face to face. That goes for my own properties or for leasing I do. So with that said I use them all the time. We have set days and times that we advertise and direct people to the open houses when they inquire about a showing and if they cant make it we work with them but most people that are really interested make the time and come. I also find it is a bit of a barrier and weeds out some of the people not all that serious. but that's pure speculation, regardless, I'm generally a fan, just keeps everything consistent and clean from an ops standpoint.
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Drew SygitBusiness Member
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
7mo
Quote from @Shane Ward:

What is the consensus of having an Open house when showing a rental? We have done them and it has worked out and done them and they not worked out.
Curious what others think.

Last option if a property isn't renting.
Most attendees will be nosy neighbors and "tire-kickers", so waste of time otherwise.
[email protected]248-209-6824
Logical Property Management4.9460 Reviews
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Janice Carter
Real Estate Broker · Atlanta · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 607 votes
7mo
Shane, open houses for rentals can work, especially in high demand areas but they are hit or miss. They are great for generating volume quickly but you will often get a lot of unqualified traffic. Many landlords find pre-screened, scheduled showings more efficient and higher quality. It really depends on your market and how tight your screening process is.
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Patrick O'SullivanBusiness Member
Property Manager · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2024 · 540 posts · 208 votes
6mo
Open houses for rentals can be inconsistent, so most landlords use them selectively rather than as a standard approach.

They’re effective in high-demand markets for quickly generating interest and filling vacancies, while set viewing times streamline scheduling and attract more serious prospects.

That said, a lot of the traffic is often unqualified, including neighbors and casual lookers, so time can get wasted. Because of that, many landlords prefer pre-screened, scheduled showings since they typically lead to higher-quality applicants and less back and forth.

A common approach is to use open houses only if a property isn’t getting enough traction. Sticking with individual showings tends to be more efficient.
[email protected]480-795-7938
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Bryce JamisonPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Mebane, NC · Member since 2015 · 494 posts · 439 votes
5mo
I use the open house technique if I have several good tenants that all want to look at the property around the same time. Instead of setting up several individual appointments, I'll have an open window when they can come whenever. Hopefully some come at the same time and create a feeling of desirability with your property!
It's also nice if you live far away and don't want to make multiple trips to meet prospective tenants.
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Kevin Sobilo
Realtor · Hanover Twp, PA · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5mo
@Shane Ward, a few thoughts. Open houses are my go-to and here are some reasons why:
1. Even good tenants are becoming leery of pre-screening and ESPECIALLY of being forced to apply before seeing a place. Some landlords actually put the burden and cost of applying before scheduling a showing and that puts every kind of tenant off even good ones.
2. Even pre-screening takes time. Yes, I might be able to boil it down to yes/no questions but it still requires more back and forth communication with each inquiry.
3. Scheduling individual appointments takes time. The time to contact and schedule and then to meet the differing schedule demands of each person is a bit cumbersome.
4. With an open house, I can schedule 2 per week and cover a substantial majority of people who inquire. I typically do a mid-week open house after day shift workers get out of work maybe 5-7pm and another on a weekend day around mid-day.
5. When you pre-screen and schedule appts, many times people don't show up! Yes, you can try to confirm appts but that is additional effort and imperfect as well.
6. With an open house as an owner-operator, I can always schedule some tasks to do while I am at the property. It could be something as simple as a cleaning task. So, even on the odd occasion where few or no people show up, I have done something productive with my time.
In addition, even when ZERO people show up it is productive! Without the effort to pre-screen, schedule appts, and confirm appts the no-shows have filtered themselves out. Yes, a small positive but still a positive.
7. Initial responses to inquiries is SIMPLE and could be automated. Often I am simply replying with a cut/paste response telling them when the next open house is scheduled.
8. Unlike a property sale, open houses for rentals rarely have nosey neighbors come to look and even if they do that is another positive for me. I like to meet neighbors and show them that I rent properties better than most in the neighborhood. Plus neighbors are likely to tell me if something is going on at a property I should know about.
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Matthew MorrowBusiness Member
Investor · PA - NY - NJ · Member since 2019 · 624 posts · 211 votes
5mo
Quote from @Shane Ward:

What is the consensus of having an Open house when showing a rental? We have done them and it has worked out and done them and they not worked out.
Curious what others think.

We’ve done both and I think it really depends on the property. For vacant units we've had in the Valley, specifically Bethlehem & Whitehall- we’ve had pretty good luck doing grouped showings/open house style because it creates a little competition and saves a ton of time. Especially if the unit is clean and priced right. Lots of tenant demand here too. More rural may not have the same turnout.
Occupied units are a different story. Those can turn into a nightmare fast between tenants getting annoyed, random people showing up late, and people who aren’t even remotely qualified.
We started pre-screening people before giving out showing info and it made a huge difference. Saves a lot of wasted time.
Funny enough, some of our best tenants came from quick grouped showings and some of the worst did too, so I don’t know if there’s a perfect formula haha.
[email protected]484-791-6200
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Ryan SpathBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 573 posts · 378 votes
4mo
It is an interesting idea for sure. Personally, we have never done a true “open house” style showing for rentals. However, we have done batch showings with good success.

When a tenant gives notice of non-renewal, we usually have ~30 days before the unit is vacant, so we start marketing the property immediately. A lot of times we are able to secure the next tenant before the current occupant even moves out. In situations where we haven’t, we’ve scheduled multiple prospective tenants to view the property around the same time. In my opinion, this creates a little urgency when applicants see other people actively looking at the property too. It also helps save time versus coordinating a bunch of separate one-off showings. I think the quality of the rental and the demand in your market probably determine how effective something like this will be.
If you chose to go this route let us know how it goes, I would also be interested in the type of property, rent, etc
[email protected]208-600-2814
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