As usual, the devil (or your success or failure) is in the details. It starts with preparation, preparation, preparation, and the more prep you do, the smoother and more successful the Open House will be.
Advertising: If you ask visitors at Open Houses how they found their way to you, there are three categories:
- Signage
- Newspaper
- Internet
In my experience they are all mentioned often enough not to neglect any single one. So put an add in the local paper, make it VISIBLE and style it well. If your office advertises for you, even better.
Then have signs up, riders on your sign a few days upfront and on the day directionals, best with ballons to catch peoples eyes
Make sure that the Open House is advertised on all major webpages, Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, Facebook, whatever brings traffic and is being seen by a lot of people.
Prepare the property: The home should be tidy (if not staged), well lit, well aired, smelling of nothing but fresh air (I do not do scenting..), landscaping fresh and tidy, booties ready to cover shoes, a chair in the front for people to sit down while they are working on their shoes. Fireplace lit (unless it is 90 degrees outside...), heat or A/C on (create a comfortable temperature that does not make people sweat and also does not make them freeze)
Sign In Sheet: I ask all visitors to sign in and my sign in sheet is rather detailed, do you work with an agent, when do you need a home, what do you like about this house, are your pre approved. All those details make it easier to follow up later on. I also always tell visitors that I will NOT pester them later. And I do not. see also "follow up".
Drinks and Food: Nope, I don't do that at all. It is a rather philosophical question, some people do it full force, my thought is, that people should come to see the house, not your food, and I do not want cookie crumps on the light carpet and sticky childrens fingers in the house. I also do not want people to linger forever over my brownies, blocking my attention for others who are coming.
Involvement: My method of choice is to welcome people personally, introducing myself, giving them a qucik verbal overview on what is where and what special features they should not miss to take notice of and then I let them roam, making sure that I catch them before they leave to sign in and give feedback. Following people around makes most highly uncomfortable.
Wrap up: Make sure you leave the house as agreed on with the seller, lights off, fire place off, doors and windows closed, door locked...
Follow up: I usually email all people who where there and supplied an email address and simply thank them for coming, or f they have a broker I email the broker and make sure they know their clients attended the Open House and request feedback. If I offered any kind of address (lender, contractor...) to a visitor I make sure that that data is sent out same day. If there is a visitor who might become a client I call rather than email. It is a fine line not to pester but staying in touch, with a little effort and over time you will get a feeling for what is welcomed and what not.
I have sold houses at Open Houses, right then and there, had great conversations, started a new transaction and found buyers/sellers. I also had Open Houses where absolutely nobody came. But that should never discourage, overall they are a great tool in a populated area to present houses to the public.
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