Many real estate experts will tell you that open houses rarely help a home seller much.
Most serious buyers today research possible homes extensively online before setting up appointments to visit the ones that look best to them, with formal open houses ordinarily playing little role in the process.
Bu never say never.
Madison-based Sprinkman Real Estate just sold a luxury lake home in Maple Bluff using what you might call an open house with a twist.
In May, the small agency organized a donor-appreciation event for the Clean Lakes Alliance at 1015 Farwell Court in Maple Bluff. The home, originally listed at $2.8 million, had sat on the market unsold for three years, but had an accepted offer two days after the May 22 event.
The buyer in the sale, which was scheduled to close today, wasn’t at the event, but that person’s real estate agent happened to be, and she told her client about the house after the event.
Which is exactly how it’s supposed to work, according to Shelly Sprinkman, who runs the agency with her husband, Trey, and two other agents, all associated with Restaino Associates.
“We see the value in (having) events at certain homes, not just to support local charities and other local businesses, but also to create word-of-mouth advertising for our listings,” Shelly Sprinkman said. “While the people who attend the event may not be in the market for a home themselves, they are certainly influencers and can help spark interest in the home, even beyond our local market.”
The agency doesn’t plan a special event for every one of its listings, but if it makes sense to pair a certain home with a certain charity or non-profit for a fundraiser/open house, or do some other type of special event there, that’s what they do, Sprinkman said.
In this case, the Frank Riley-designed brick home near Maple Bluff Country Club had 220 feet of Lake Mendota frontage, and an owner who cared deeply about lake quality and efforts to preserve it.
So throwing a first annual party for big donors to the Clean Lakes Alliance, a local non-profit dedicated to improving and protecting Madison-area lakes in the Yahara watershed, seemed like a perfect fit.
“My seller is very philanthropic, and she lives on the lake, so that’s obviously a good tie-in,” Sprinkman said.
The event, attended by more than 100 people, sounds like it was a posh affair, with drinks, catered food and live steel drum music by a local musician, plus presentations about the health of the lakes and current studies going on, all amid plenty of opportunity for gorgeous lake views from one of the home’s two screened porches or stone patio.
Designed by architect Frank Riley and built in 1936, the two-story, nearly 4,700-square-foot brick home also boasts five bedrooms, four bathrooms and former Wisconsin Gov. Pat Lucey as one of its previous owners.
So it wasn’t exactly all about clean lakes on May 22.
“We had our stager fully stage the house,” Sprinkman said. “We really showed the house in its best light. We had landscaping done. It definitely was absolutely promoting the house as well.”
Some of Sprinkman’s past open-house events were more seasonal, including a summer boat tour of homes on Lake Mendota with champagne and appetizers, and the holiday open house tour of multiple Maple Bluff homes decorated for the season that was held each of the past two winters.
Another unusual event took place in November 2010, when an open house in Maple Bluff featured a sale of vintage estate jewelry. At that time, it was all about generating extra interest in a luxury home market still very much depressed by the post-crash economic downturn.
These days, the local luxury real estate market, while still lagging other income levels that have bounced back quicker, is picking up noticeably, Sprinkman said, despite a delayed start to the buying season.
“There’s not as much on the market now on the high end and I would say it’s definitely being absorbed,” she said.
“One interesting aspect of that market is it seems to be a lot of people purchasing homes as a secondary residence,” she added. “In some cases, it’s a secondary lake home for someone coming up on weekends from Chicago. You definitely find people who are looking to move up here and get something as a secondary property with the goal of eventually moving here full-time.”
Sprinkman said the luxury market also is closely tied to the weather, with fewer potential buyers making the trip to look at luxury homes in Madison this year because of the cold and snowy early spring we had.
“Last year we had a significant number of lake listings all sell in February and March,” Sprinkman said. “This year our busy time has just sort of been in May, starting then. We’re just now seeing people starting to pull the trigger and buy something.”
Sprinkman declined to identify the parties to the sale at 1015 Farwell Court or the final price arrived at before the scheduled closing was recorded. Public records last week listed the home’s owner as Marianna M. Fuchs-Thompson.
The home was valued at $2.054 million in its latest assessment on Jan. 19. Property taxes last year were $43,306.
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