The following excerpt was taken from an article from my RIS feed today, June 10, 2008.

By Craig Proctor

RISMEDIA, June 11, 2008-Industry statistics reveal that traditional open houses are not very effective at selling homes. In fact, less than 1% of homes are sold as a result of a traditional open house. They’re a huge waste of your time and effort, and they’re a shameful waste of your client’s time and effort as well.

Despite this, thousands of agents waste an average of $150-$300 (and 3-4 hours of their time) every single week advertising traditional open houses. This is like throwing your hard earned money out an open window 99% of the time. In the vast majority of cases, traditional open houses don’t benefit the seller or the buyer. They certainly don’t benefit you. In fact, the only one who benefits is your local paper who keeps pocketing your wasted advertising dollars.

As a result, the agents I teach don’t run traditional open houses (and neither should you.)

The author continues on to exlain his idea of having a "Sunday tour of homes" instead.

Wouldn't you rather be with your family on the weekends?  Especially Sunday!  I agree, of course, that the traditional open house is too expensive to advertise and likely a waste of time.  Spend your marketing money much more effectively with a virtual tour than can be seen day or night, rain or shine, from anywhere in the world and take the weekend off!

With a panorama in every room and hotspot links, you truly have a complete walk-through experience in the comfort and privacy of your home and the buyer will be impressed by the agents choice of tour provider, which is a reflection of the professionalism of the agent.  The homeowner is also going to appreciate the fact that there will be less unnecessary showings to interfere with their comfort at home.  You will be showing your selling homeowners that you care about them and their needs as much as you want to sell their home quickly.