There are many tasks that we do on a daily basis and never consider the possible ramifications. Take an Open House as an example. Many agents hold an Open House with the primary desire to find other clients. This is a long time technique to try to drive clients to us instead of having to find them.

However, how many of us bother to invite the surrounding neighbors to the Open House? Not many. But, it's an easy way to promote ourselves. It tells the neighbor something...that you are a hard working agent, and will get the word out about MY house if I sell.

Personally, I love to have neighbors come into my Open Houses. Many agents (albiet new ones) I talk to say "it's a waste of time to have a neighbor come in...they're not going to buy the house!" While that is true, they may someday want to LIST their home. Whenever a neighbor comes in, or if someone calls on a flyer or other piece of marketing, I consider it to be a job interview. If I treat a neighbor poorly, not only will they never list with me, but they will tell my client about my poor performance. Everytime we open our mouths we should see it as a job interview.

 I was out inviting neighbors to an Open House in my first month of being an agent, because I was told by my Broker that I had to. It seemed like a time-wasting chore to me. One neighbor actually yelled at me telling me it was stupid for doing this..."I'm not going to buy a house in my own neighborhood!" she snapped at me. I was taken aback, and didn't know how to respond. I wanted to smack her (I refrained). I've learned the hard way to spend the time (and the money) to work the neighborhood. I had one listing where a neighbor DID buy my listing DURING my Open House (ha ha on the nasty lady). Moreover, one of my farm areas became my farm simply from the fact that I have had the majority of the listings over the past 4 years. Why? Because I have treated the neighbors as valued members of my business.

People have BIG mouths. If the neighbors know about a house for sale, know (or at least have met) the agent, and know some basic information about the house, they tell others. It's a cheap way of marketing as well!