If you are a farmer, then you know that you want to take every chance you can to meet the neighbors. You want to sell the listings that you are lucky enough to have in your farm, but you also want to leverage those listings to keep meeting more and more of the neighbors. You are building your reputation as the Queen or King of the Neighborhood with every meeting with the neighbors!
I don't want to rely just on the neighbrs coming into the open houses. Instead I invite the neighbors to a wine and cheese party on Thursday or Friday night. I started doing this because I figured that the neighbors would be coming anyway as nosy neighbors. I decided to turn that annoyance into a positive by creating that opportunity to talk with them at my leisure. The wine and cheese party separates the neighbors from the buyers so I can concentrate on the buyers at the weekend open houses.
I deliver invitations to the neighbors so that they know the house is on the market. Instead of mailing a postcard announcing the listing, I use the invitations to accomplish the same goal. I put the invitation on my neighborhood Facebook page that is dedicated to that farm. I put the open house into the MLS along with the open houses on Saturday and Sunday so that possible buyers can come too.
When buyers come, what they see is a group of neighbors gathered in the kitchen or out on the deck talking with each other in a very friendly manner. The neighbors are there to answer any questions that the buyer might have. I think that the presence of neighbors at this first open house actually sells the house to many buyers.
As for me - I love it! There are certain neighbors who can be counted on to always show up for a free glass of wine and a few bites of cheese. Over time, I have built relationships with those neighbors. They share information with me about the neighborhood and who is thinking about moving! My wine and cheese parties give me that chance to reinforce my relationship with the neighborhood in a very fun way.
I am a huge believer in the value of a farm. My farm has been very kind to me through the years and this year is the best one yet.
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