Why There Are No Open Houses Over Major Holidays in Sacramento

If you’ve been wondering why there are no open houses over major holidays in Sacramento, you must be a seller. I never get this question from home buyers in Sacramento. And maybe part of it is because I tell sellers I will hold open their home every Sunday until it sells, except for major holidays. They don’t hear the “except for major holidays” part. They hear only: oh, goodie, every Sunday until it sells. Because agents work all of the time, right?

Yes, it does seem like we work all of the time, but we don’t work over periods when buyers don’t come to open houses. The reason there are no open houses over major holidays is because when a person has time off of work, rarely does a person want to do more work. It is work to go house hunting. Most people choose a different activity, perhaps spending time with friends or family, and / or traveling. That doesn’t mean we don’t show homes over major holidays because we do. We just do not attract large numbers of home buyers to an open house.

Throw into the equation the city of Sacramento. This is a city where the nicest thing many can say about it is it’s close to other things that are more exciting. Laugh as you may, I hear it all the time. Oh, we’re so close to the Bay Area, it’s only 90 minutes (the way the crow flies and hopefully you’re not in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 5 hours). Or, it’s so close to Lake Tahoe, only 90 minutes (see previous disclaimer). But there hundreds of places to go within a day drive of Sacramento, including other states. Sometimes it feels like half the population has left town over a major holiday.

Below are the 7 dates for no open houses over major holidays:

Easter

Memorial Day

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Year’s

That doesn’t mean you might not find a rogue agent sitting by himself at an open house somewhere hoping for business. But the bulk of listing agents in Sacramento are not holding open houses then. However, we still answer our phones and take care of business.