THIS weekend, you'll find dozens of homes opening their doors for an "open house" event. Richard Watkinson and Partners are opening the doors to several homes around Notts and Countrywide East Midlands are taking part in National Open House Weekend.
So, just what are the advantages? According to Countrywide, it's all about time-saving and convenience. The estate agency, which is opening the doors of many of its houses for sale this Saturday and Sunday, says the timing allows sellers and buyers to organise multiple viewings over the Saturday and Sunday, rather than trying to cram viewings into their busy weekday lives.
Jonathan Simpson, managing director, East Midlands, said: "Now is the perfect time to buy or sell, with excellent mortgage products available. Our open weekend event makes it so easy to view houses. Our sellers are really excited to be taking part in the open weekend, as it's been a huge success in previous years and is widely recognised as a great opportunity to match sellers and prospective buyers.
Ian Dean, manager of Frank Innes, in Beeston, added: "The last open house weekend run by Countrywide saw 2,500 properties sell and we arranged 80,000 viewing nationally."
Jonathan added: "We're anticipating a significant amount of interest in the properties we currently have for sale."
Also throwing open the doors to one of its properties this weekend is Haart, in Hucknall. The success of a recent mass open event encouraging the firm to continue with this method of viewing.
Matt Copley, branch manager at Hucknall Haart, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the results of our recent 'open house' event.
"Even though it was the hottest weekend of the year so far, people came out in their droves to view a wide range of homes. Across Nottingham as a whole, we sold well over £800,000 worth of participating properties over the three-day period, a marked improvement on what we did during a similar event this time last year.
"Our figures show that, in spite of these challenging economic times, the appetite to buy and sell houses continues to remain strong.
"What's more, the feedback to the 'open house' format was extremely positive, with members of the public really appreciating the opportunity to view homes at their leisure. We are already planning a similar-style event later this year to ensure more people benefit from this unique sales platform."