I had previously posted parts I and II of this post and for Part III thought I would include all the parts on this final post about Open Houses!  This is directly from a training hand out that I designed to hold for new agents in my own office on how to successfully conduct an open house from start to finish!  I though it would be beneificial to ALL those on AR! 

                                        What To Do BEFORE Your Open House!

                                                      Letters or Door hangers?

As soon as you know the date and time of your open house (usually 1 - 1 ½ weeks prior) you need to start preparing letters for the neighbors.  These letters should not only invite them to your open house, but tell them all of the many services you provide as an agent and could provide for them if you were their agent!  Tell them you will provide them with a FREE CMA or IN-Home consultation or whatever you prefer.  And make sure you put your business cards in it too.  A cheaper alternative may be to use door hangers (that may be provided by your broker/office FREE of charge), then all you need to do is attach your business cards and hang them on the doors.


Signs & Balloons?

Depending on the area your open house is in will depend on whether or not you can put out these signs and the type of signs that you may use.  Some areas will allow you to put them out all the time and some areas will have restrictions.  Generally, the earlier you can put out the signs the better.  As for the balloons, you should put them out the morning of the open house.  I always tie at least one balloon on each arrow sign and the rest on the front porch or sign in the yard.  Balloons let people know you are there and they are welcome to start coming into the property!  The majority of my open house traffic comes from drive-bys!


                                             Websites and Internet Marketing? 

A lot of the other traffic that I usually get comes from the internet sites that I advertise my open houses on!  The internet is the wave of the future and most of you already know this and that is why you have a BLOG on AR!  Make sure that you advertise the open house as soon as you can and on as many different websites that you can to ensure that you have the maximum exposure and create the largest turn out that you can!  Many different MLS systems that we subscribe to allow us to put in Open House information which is also syndicated to several other websites all across the internet!  Many other sites allow you to post and advertise for FREE, so make sure you take advantage of them!


Flyer Boxes & Flyers?

If you have any flyer boxes on the property, make sure to empty them all.  You don't want people coming up and taking a flyer without first coming into the home and meeting them and showing them the house.  This means the people will actually have to come in to see the home and meet you (this gets you more leads, which is why you are doing the open house in the first place)!  Also, if you are hosting the open house for another agent in your office (what rookies have to do with no listings) make sure that you make up some of your own flyers with your contact information on them to hand out to the prospects who come in to see the property!  You could even make up your own brochure about yourself and ALL of the services that you provide to buyers and sellers!

                                                What To Do DURING Your Open House!


                                                                 Light it Up!

Before anyone arrives go through the entire home and turn on all the lights, ceiling fans, fireplaces (if applicable), and ALL!  If it has a switch turn it on (unless it is marked DO NOT TURN ON or you were told not to).  Also, open all the shades/blinds in the home to make it more inviting and full of natural light.  If the weather is appropriate you should also open up the windows and get a nice calming breeze going through the home!  The main idea here is to make your home appear as the model homes do when you go and view them.  AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK THE TEMPERATURE!!!

Straighten it Up!

As soon as you get to the home (as you are turning on the lights), go through each room and make sure each room is presentable and in good showing shape!  It is not uncommon to find some of your sellers slacking with leaving out clothes, shoes, jackets, hats, dishes, etc.  If you see some things are out that shouldn't be, simply put them away or out of sight (you may have to get creative).  Now I know the picture looks like you actually have to scrub their floors, but that is pushing it a little too far!  The main idea here is that you want to make it show its best and besides that, NO ONE WANTS TO BUY A "DIRTY" HOUSE!


                                                                Sign In Sheet!

Make sure that you have a sign in sheet for your open house (my broker actually has pre-printed colored ones made up for us to use).  On the sign in sheet you want to make sure all of the important contact information about the people who visit is on it.  Make certain at a minimum that you have their: Name(s), Address, Phone Number(s), Email Address(es), How they found out about the open (drive by, internet, paper ad, etc), and if they are working with another agent!  If they say they are working with another agent, have them write in their agents name!

Before anyone gets there, I always fill out a bogus name or two at the top with all of the required information so people feel like they have to fill it in too and don't feel like they were the only ones who came to the open house that day (unless someone is there when I get there to open it up)!  Make sure you tell everyone that the seller is requesting that EVERYONE sign in who attends (only one person per couple is needed) so they know who was in their home.  Make sure you can read what they write.  If you can't, ask them what it says and correct it so you can read it (Remember, these are your leads and you need to be able to read them)!

Greet & Go!

As people arrive, greet them and get them to sign in.  Tell them to make themselves "AT HOME" and to feel free to ask if they have any questions.  Also, tell them you would like to get some feedback from them before they leave.  Then LET THEM GO!  No one likes to walk around a house with someone following them (unless they ask you to do that).  While they are going through the home, look over the sign in sheet and make sure they filled out all of the information that you will need to follow up with them.  If they didn't give you all of their information, before they leave, while you are getting their feedback, ask them for the information you were missing.  The worst that can happen here is they say "sorry, we would rather not give out our personal information!"  If this is the case, DO NOT BE PUSHY, they probably were not serious prospects anyway and even if they would have provided their information they probably would have lied! 

However, DON'T LET THEM GO YET!  Even if they clearly were not interested in the home (as most of them will not be), ask them what exactly are they looking for and write down what they tell you!  Ask them if they would like you to email them everything on the market that meets their needs or perhaps set them up with an automatic email update search that will email them ALL of the daily listings as soon as they come onto the market!  If they say yes, but never gave you their email address in the beginning, now is the time they might!  Most agents don't do this at all and just by asking them these FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS you will get a good feel if they are serious or not!

What To Do AFTER Your Open House?

Turn Off, Lock Up, & Get Signs!

Basically go through each room again to make sure all the lights, fans, etc that you turned on are now off.  Reset the thermostat to what it was at before you left.  Generally, return the home to the condition it was in when you got there.  Check all the doors and make sure they are locked (especially rear and side entry doors).  Then make sure you go and get all of your signs that you put out earlier and take down the balloons.

                                                                THEN FOLLOW UP!!!!

Immediately after you leave, you need to follow up with all of the interested prospects that you just met.  Either go home or back to the office and enter in all of their information into your contact spreadsheet as prospects (if you don't have one, we need to talk!).  Then HAND WRITE them all thank you notes and place them in the mail or mail pile.  After that, follow up with searching for whatever they told you they were interested in and email it to them immediately.  It also doesn't hurt to email them a thank you for attending as well.

I cannot stress IMMEDIATELY enough.  Chances are that these people went to more open houses than just yours and chances are you are not the only agent that they met that day.  You need to make the best impression you can and the faster you can follow up the better.  After all that is why you did the open house isn't it?  You wanted to get more clients?

                                      BONUS SECTION:  Must Have Items for An Open House!

•·        Arrow Signs
•·        Balloons
•·        Sign in Sheet
•·        Business Cards
•·        Supra Key Pad or Code
•·        Flyer packets
•·        Brochures (buyers guides & maybe your own)
•·        Buyer packet (at least one)
•·        Buyers Guides (staple your business card inside it)
•·        Bottle of Fabreeze or something similar (Optional)
•·        Book or something to do (if no one shows up)

Michael D. Klijanowicz, Multi-Million Dollar REALTOR® 
Long & Foster Perry Hall  

(410) 529-1900 X 3158 Office
(410) 236-3331 Cell

http://www.isellmdhomes.com/

Serving Buyers & Sellers in the
Greater Baltimore & Harford County Metropolitan Areas