I hand out goodie bags.  I got the bags in the party section at Wal-Mart.  I put my newsletter, my note pads, pens, magnetic calender, 2 business cards and Hershey hugs and kisses!  I have had lots of comments and SEVERAL phones calls comments were no other agent did that! 

I love the goody bag idea.

I hand out flyers to the neighbors on the block. In some cases, they know people who want to move into the area. In others, they may stop by and you'll get a chance to meet them.

Good luck. It will be fabulous!

I have 6 oz waters and mini hershey chocolates- water is always good and the chocolates bring out the 'sweet' in people

You are a zonie, you know water is a must! Hershey kisses in triple digits isn't smart, but a few hard candies don't hurt.

I don't know what time you are holding the home open. Today would have been the day to knock on a few neighbors doors inviting them or their friends to the open. Tomorrow before the open would be better than nothing.

Be sure to get to the home early to get the ac going.

Thankfully it doesn't start till 11, so I have time to do a few errands before hand.  I don't know why I didn't think of bottled water until you guys said it, I was worried about getting little cups like a kindergarten snack time!  I guess I am around toddlers too much.   I like the goody bag idea too!     But what about all the stuff like Baking so the house smells good, or putting fresh flowers?  Do those things work, or is it just an extra waste of time?

I am just going off of those HGTV Shows on that one!

Hello, Lexa!

You received some good and useful tips here.  I just want to add my two cents:

• I like fresh flowers so I always bring some to my open house.  Guests notice them and they make positive comments about them.
• I rarely bake so I don't bake nor bring cookies--besides I'll end up snacking on them.  : )
• You gauge success by how you define it.  If your goal is for 10 people to show up, and 10 people did, then it was successful.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

Just my two cents... I totally agree with passing out flyers personally to the neighbors... I even went a step farther with it then that.  I invited the neighbors an hour earlier than the advertised open house for a "neighbor's sneak peek."  I got a few of them to show up, and this Sunday, I'm listing another home in that neighborhood.  All because I knocked on a door...  If you can't do it this time because of time constraints, I would definitely recommend trying it next time!

Cookies and coloring books. It occupies the kids, so the parents can take a look at a home without help!

All great ideas!!! I use to do the cookie thing - just the pilsbury cut the dough and bake while people were there - too much hassle - so now I carry a Yankee candle that has some sort of "baking" sent - they are easy to transport and smell oh so good :)