Effective at what? Selling houses or at attracting new clients?    I think the agents who promote them as such as deluding the homeowners into thinking that so they may gain access to their properties for hours at a time so they may entertain the general public (qualified or otherwise) in an attempt to pick up business. I think this is blatantly unfair to the sellers and possibly putting them at risk for theft.   

Unfortunately, there are sellers who have bought into the lie that open houses sell homes;  they themselves will say "we bought our house from an open house."  Does that mean they would have never seen the home otherwise?  Uh, no.  They would have seen it with an agent on a private tour.  So they not only are okay with open houses, they insist upon them.

If open houses disappeared tomorrow, houses would still continue to be bought and sold and no one would notice the difference. 

The answer lies in the question.  Open houses are like bait for sharks ... inviting neighbors and strangers into ones home ... not a fan of the practice. 

Good question, open houses too often are REALTOR® Amateur Hour.

Michael Setunsky answered David Barr 's Q -- or pointed out that he answered his own, rather. ;)
I think open houses are as hyperlocal as it gets. In some areas they work great; in some, they'll never work. The gurus are looking for a one-size-fits-all solution, to cast the widest net, and this is a no go. So off they go, to lower hanging fruit.

I'm a certified Open House Specialist.  I liked the name so much, I just created it and certified myself! 

Open houses are very effective at wasting several hours, making sellers happy and somewhat useful for finding new clients.  Once in a blue moon, when the sun is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars... they actually sell a house!

David Barr I believe you answered your own question.

Old School Real Estate.

#1--I think open houses are a holdover from days of old. We've always done it, so why stop now, even if every listing is available to see 24/7 online.  So no, I don't think they are effective.

#2--That shouldn't stop a guru from making an open house app that they can get rich off of selling to agents who continue to feel they hold some mystical power.

I have so many issues with open houses.  First seller is allowing random strangers to wander through their home at free will?

Most multiple listing services have apps that allow this information to be freely disseminated to the public - address, virtual tour, Open times, and basic home description.  And a lot of agents in my area add to this with a ton of annoying listing spam.  This is why Open Houses work wo well in our area.  

Open houses are not always effective.

Yeah ...... why not?

Open houses are not effective marketing IMHO.

I haven't held an open house in over 10 years.  

As they have not become an EXPERT in this part of the equation to ask for us to take the course.

Primarily because there is no system or app or process that agents will not break and declare they do not work. Why? Because the majority of agents are not seeking solutions, but only justification to do what they currently are doing.

I have stated 'doing it right' many times. 
I have stated there are five purposes for an open house that will prove incredibly successful.

Not one agent (ON ACTIVE RAIN) has asked for the guidelines for a purposed open house. Not one. Be aware, this was done overtly and deliberately to identify who is teachable. I have my answer.

Your question lists all the stuff that does not work and suggests an intent to use those resources, and then when they fail, declare open houses do not work.  So for those who possess counter-intentions, they should stay their course. Let those seeking solutions raise their hand (step towards). Those who are in possession of what is working for them, should stay their course.

'Why aren't those same people pushing apps..." 

They understood a very long time ago, folks do not want to be sold to (pushing) but do want to buy (invitation).  Can you see 'Old school' practices are being abandoned by the those who understand the contemporary marketplace. That is why you do not see what you want to see.

No designation for open house specialist. Seriously now, that had to be intentional humor and I did laugh out loud. Thanks.

Still have never sold a home held open, but picked up many buyers and sellers from the neighborhood! 

Love the way you think, David Barr! I am just grateful this small area tends to be free from sales pitches for special trainings and landing pages.  

Good question, Reading answers.

IMHO opens work great for builders with lots to sell and many many designs

Many agents don't do open houses.

Here ya go David Barr 

This is a local kid. He kills it when it comes to hosting open houses!

There are a lot of good ideas in this video. I would suggest you watch it. 

David,

They work here in Santa Barbara, and in Los Angeles.  I know that they do not work in other areas.

We are experiencing social media fatigue, at it stopped working.

Getting an app for your business does not work, it is a colossal waste of time expecially is your site responsive.  Marketing is local just as real estate is.  A

David that is a good question

In the old days, lets say decades ago, open houses worked for those who worked them. They were exciting and productive. Today, the Internet rules

I think opens work in some communities and not others.  I've never had any luck, however, I've read where some agent who get results really put in an effort to create an event around the open.

I've only seen one program that pushes opens.  I haven't tried many guru programs to know what all they push.  I think they all do the same thing.

It would be difficult to justify opening a house to strangers, who may or may not be able to afford the home, allowing them to open your closets etc... and most importantly, the possibility that they may steal from you (check your local news). Doesn't make much sense in today's society.

Those that can DO. Those that cant, try to sell info to those that want to....Open houses are best at attractingnew clints for the open house agent and rarely sell the home except in new construction. 

If you listen to home valuation pushers, they push home valuations.

If you listen to social media gurus, they promote social media.

If you want to listen to open house issues, you need to find yourself an open house guru.