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Open Houses

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Lisboa Realty

Nilton LisboaI LOVE OPEN HOUSES!!!

Sometimes its for all of the extra cookies and soda that I always bring hahaha.  But mostly its for the chance to talk to people. 

Our Open House program takes a lot of time to conduct...  I mean, we have to find 40 "target" people to send a personal invitation to.  We have to call the 40 peole we mailed post cards to get them to come.  Most of these calls are actually fun because you catch them by surprise.  Usually I get a few older folks who are just happy to talk to me hahaha.  We have to put a rider on the yard sign in the middle of the week stating when the open house is going to be and time.  We have to input on 3-4 different websites manually.  I know that once we list on our MLS it auto feeds to other postings but I have found that if we do it manually, it gets more exposure and the content is controled by me.

Blowing up the balloons and driving with 16 in your car is a lot of fun too...I was stopped once by the police because he said it was blocking my view...I admit, it was, but it was a great way to talk to the cop because he actually gave me his address and I did a CMA on his property 3 days later!!!  He did not want to sell but I did add him to my database and we still talk about the way we met :-)

At the open house, I rarely get less then 3-4 people because of all the work required to do prior to hosting the house open.  If you think about it, that is 9-12 more people that I get to talk to a month that I would never had done so.  Over a 6 month period, I get 1-2 actually closed transactions from Open Houses.  Its 1 piece of the prospecting pie for my business.  If you work it, it will work for you too.

So, for the naysayers, it takes work and then you get results.  If you don't "work" the plan in getting people there, that is what you get.  Listen, the least you will get is a cop pulling you over or a neighbor who is going to like your style.

Good luck in your Open House...

Prospective Buyers...say thank you for those agents who are there for you.

More to come soon...

Nilton Lisboa

 

Comments (4)

Pam Joffe
Solaris Realty - Tampa, FL
Nilton- Good take on having open houses. You just never know when you are going to have a great buyer show up at one.
Apr 13, 2008 05:22 AM
Tim Walsh
Strano and Assc. - Belleville, IL
Nilton, way to go on getting bodies in the door! When you say to find 40 people -- how do you ID them? Are they just random folks or from the neighborhood or ??? Thanks for the info!
Apr 13, 2008 05:44 AM
Nilton Lisboa
Lisboa Realty - Marlborough, MA
Experience & Knowledge=Your Real Estate Advantage

Tim,

I use QuantumLeap.com version of prospecting...  If the house is for $270k and its a starter home, I will only look for renters making between $40-70k per year living in a .5 radius from the listing.  If its a $450k or more, I would look for $85k+ yearly income homeowners.

Hope that helps.

Good luck with your OHs and let me know if you need anything else.

Nilton Lisboa in Marlboro MA aka Mr. Real Estate :-)

Apr 14, 2008 02:23 AM
Tim Walsh
Strano and Assc. - Belleville, IL

Nilton, Thanks for the reply -- good info! You happy with quantumleap? Thanks, Tim

Apr 14, 2008 02:25 PM