If you’re wondering whether you should you hold an open house, I have an answer for you. Maybe.

Why the equivocal response? First, you should know that open houses do not often directly lead to a sale. In the latest Profile of Texas Homebuyers and Sellers, only 38% of people searching for a home indicated that they even visited open houses. Compare that to 90% who used the Internet to search for properties and 85% who relied on real estate agents for information.

Still, the study also shows that 12% of all buyers learned about the home they eventually purchased either by noticing a yard sign or by visiting an open house. Let’s say the number who found their home via an open house (rather than by driving past a yard sign) was half that amount. Do you want to ignore an option that may lead to a sale 6% of the time?

Once again, I would argue that it depends. Depends on the property, depends on the neighborhood. Depends on what’s going on in the market, the time of year, the price range. It depends what other ways the property will be marketed.

So how will you decide whether to hold an open house? If I were you, I’d see what my Texas REALTOR® had to say about it. Your REALTOR® knows better than anyone the pros and cons of various methods to market your home. Together, you can come up with the right answer for you.