So Pat, Where Do Buyers Come From? Part 1

Well, for sure the stork doesn't bring them!

In a post I wrote yesterday, List To Last? Or Is There More Than One Way To Skin That Cat?   I wrote about putting more effort into attracting buyers as one strategy for working successfully in the current market.  And surprisingly, I got some emails from blog buddies asking how to do it. 

Many of the things we do to find sellers work for buyers as well, but there are things you can do to make it easier for them to find us and to choose us as their buyer broker when it's time for them to get serious.

Today, I'm going to focus on one of the best ways you can help them find you: Open Houses.  You have a few minutes to make an impression, and to make a good one, it really helps to know the territory. Here are some tips for getting them in the door and then wowing them:

• Choose your Open carefully.  It should be well-priced, have good curb appeal, and it should be easy to find.  If you don't have any listings that fit the bill, ask a colleague if you can hold his or hers open.
• Be sure to post your Open House everywhere you possibly can online.  I use a combination of MRIS, Trulia, the Washington Post's on-line ads, and I use Postlets as a syndication service.  I used to have great luck with Craig's List, but we've been having problems with rental scammers and that site is beginning to lose favor.
• Mail invitations to a target market.  If it's a house, I send cards to a nice condo building or two within a mile radius.  I might also try sending invitations to investor-owned properties in the neighborhood.  If it's a condo, I look for renters, either in the building with the unit I'm opening up, or I send to other rentals or condos in the immediate neighborhood.
  
• Before the Open, preview everything in the neighborhood and similarly priced homes in nearby neighborhoods.  I bring a binder with listing information on each home.  Being totally familiar with the inventory makes it easier to carry on conversations about alternatives to the home I'm holding open.
• On Open House Day put up bunches of signs and if you can, put a few balloons, very birghtly colored, on the one in front of the house.
• When people come through,don't be too pushy about getting a name and contact information as they walk in the door.  They'll sign in as Donald Duck at 202-555-5555.  If get their information after you've established rapport, it'll more likely be the real deal.
• Always ask if they have an agent already.  If they say yes, stop flirting.  It's sort of like hitting on a friend's spouse.
• Always try to get their permission to contact them for a reason - try to give them some sort of follow up information about something. 
  
• Follow up with the unrepresented buyers, especially anyone you may have established some rapport with.

As I write this, I realize that if you are an agent in the state of Maryland, none of this applies, as our state regulators have made it pretty awkward to prospect for buyers at Opens.  That's another blog.

But when you are not in Maryland and you show up at an Open House totally prepared and your are indeed open for business.

Next:  Blogging for Buyers