Our most profitable lessons are learned from failure, not success. ~ Frank Davidson
Do you wake up on Monday mornings sometimes wondering where did the weekend go? It seems like the play time has turned into the run time all too quickly. Oh, Lord, here I am again ready to start the whole routine over. But am I complaining? Absolutely not!
It has been a busy and productive weekend which weekends tend to be in the life of a real estate agent. All the work of coordinating five houses to be open on Sunday in the same subdivision came to fruition. None of us had an overwhelming public response to our open houses. Three of us did have prospects and I am grateful to be one of the houses with a prospect. It turns out my open house did not meet my prospect's expectations but I do look forward to the opportunity of showing him other properties that may.
An outsider looking in at the profitability of the open house event itself could easily draw a conclusion that they were not a success given the limited amount of exposure to the public or lack of buyers for the listings. In the words of the quote above, there were profitable lessons learned from the open house event in light of its perceived failure. Looking at it from a Realtor's own perspective here's a couple of lessons learned:
- Internet attracts ~ prospect drawn to open house from website
- No Fuss ~ keep it simple
The Internet plays a powerful role in the sale of real estate and agents should be willing to market their properties effectively with it. In the case of the open house, make sure that it is listed as open in your local MLS, multiple listing service. This is not a new lesson but it is an encouraging one when it is reinforced by real life experience. The experience itself is a reminder of where to put more of your energy when marketing your client's home. The other lesson has to do with where to put less of your energy when marketing those homes. Open houses do not need to have balloons or food treats to attract the public. Few if any are interested in the fuss when it comes to dealing directly with the general public. Prospective buyers are interested in the house itself. Let the Internet attract them and agents be prepared to enhance its features or themselves.
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