Feeling Left Out Do you ever see some piece of marketing and think to yourself- I am not the target audience for that ad, but I should be the target audience for that product? I accept that I am not going to be the target audience for everything. We watched Zombieland that other night, and since we are not fans of zombie movies, we weren’t the target audience for it, and didn’t find it nearly as funny as my friends who are zombie movie connoisseurs did.

But sometimes, you know you should be the target audience, or at least, you think you should be.

Don’t You Want to Sell to Me? What I’m talking about today are real estate open houses- but not the ones that happen on weekends, or the ones at new construction sites where the models are open every day. I’m talking about the open houses that happen in established neighborhoods and are held on a Tuesday afternoon, from Noon-3pm.

Think about that. Doesn’t it seem incredibly limiting, considering their target audience should be anyone in the market for a home who can afford the one they are selling? Wouldn’t you think that most people who could afford the house are actually working at that time? Do they really want to limit their buyers to families with a stay at home spouse?

Perception vs Reality This is about perception. I don’t perceive myself as the target audience for Zombieland (though I did watch it), but I do see myself as the target audience for houses, and on some level, I feel a little insulted that it appears the realtor doesn’t see me as “good enough” for that house since I have to work during the day.

But that’s my perception. It is very doubtful that my perception matches that of the realtor, though. This is especially true if you do any research into real estate. It turns out, open houses are never about selling that house. Have you been to the open house where the agent tells you at the start that the owners have already accepted an offer? I have- many of them when we were last looking for a house.

An open house has two purposes- for your agent to meet potential new clients or to get other real estate agents into the house.

The Real Target Audience Open houses on weekends are all about the realtor having the chance to meet people who don’t already have their own agent. They are early in the process, or the agent they are working with isn’t showing them the houses they want. An open house on a weekend is a chance for your real estate agent to meet potential new clients, and to make it seem like they are doing something to sell your house, but that really only is a seeming.

An open house in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday? That’s an open house that is actually about selling your house, because its sole purpose is to get other real estate agents into your home. This is done for homes that perhaps don’t have great drive by appeal, or really are much bigger inside than they appear on the outside. It is for houses that haven’t generated a lot of interest already.

By holding the open house in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, most other agents have the time to come by and take a look. It gets them to look beyond the curb appeal, to see the awesome landscaping of the backyard, the completely redone kitchen. It lets them see the how big it really is, in a way that pictures just can’t convey.

A weekday open house isn’t about getting a bored housewife to stop in and fall in love with the property. It is about getting other real estate agents in to see the house, agents that might then recommend the property to their clients.

So no, I’m not the target market for a weekday open house, but it’s not because I have to work for a living. It’s because I’m a potential buyer, and a weekday open house isn’t for the buyers. It’s for all the potential buyers’ agents.