KNOCK KNOCK....who's there???

That's the great start to jokes as old as time...Knock Knock...Who's there?...Banana...Banana who? You know that rest.

But this is also a profound question when you're in Real Estate. One of the ways we build our business is to hold open houses.

Typically, this means you put up a few signs, a flag on the front lawn and then hope that people show up in droves! If your're lucky, the right person will walk in with checkbook in hand and write an offer right then and there! Or even better, they walk to the trunk of thier car, pull out a suitcase full of money and pay cash, on the spot...right???

HA!! WE WISH!

Who is REALLY coming through your Open House? Do YOU keep track of who actually comes through? In this day and age, its in our best interest to know who's coming in and out of OUR CLIENTS home. Not just for the sake of building your client base, but for security purposes.

We recently had a Quantum Home Tour Training....this is a marketing event that takes two full weeks to prepare for. There's some homework involved in getting ready for this "Open House On Steriods".

One of the assignments that you are given is to visit open houses so that you can see for yourself how a traditional open house is held. This will help you see how the Quantum Home Tour is different. I'm going to let one of our agents, *Joseph Saldana who just went through the training, tell you what he discovered:

"I went to visit open houses last weekend. I'd walk up to the house, and would find the agent sitting on the sofa, watching TV or reading. Then they'd hand me a flyer and say 'Feel free to look around, and let me know if you have any questions'. I was never asked to sign in, which I thought was not a good idea. They had no idea who I was, and they were there by themselves. They never asked me what I was looking for, or offered me any help.

One agent though, did tell me though that she was a "listing" agent, and that if I wanted to write an offer on the house, she'd find a "buyer's" agent to help me out".

When I asked him how he felt about that, he said he felt like she just threw money out the window. I thought the same thing. Here is a person, IN AN OPEN HOUSE (which means he's INTERESTED in BUYING a home) and she sends him off!

More than just the money aspect though, I also thought about her safety. It's NEVER a good idea to hold a home open alone. If you are suddenly deluged with people, how can you keep track of who's doing what in which room? You can't! There are too many people out there ready, willing and able to rifle through medicine cabinets, or drawers looking for prescription drugs, or ways to steal someone's identity. It is OUR job to protect our clients' homes.....

Joseph just started with us. He has never sold a home before, but thanks to the Quantum Home Tour Training, this Saturday, he made three appointments, and even showed homes to his NEW CLIENTS! They took all the relevant steps, INCLUDING talking to HIS lender before Joseph put them in his car to show them everything under the sun! He has a second appointment with them on Tuesday to find out more about their perfect home....and he's the PERFECT guy to help them! Tomorrow we do it all over again, and I can't wait for him to set even more appointments and get his Real Estate Career up and running!

So the next time you hear "Knock Knock" be prepared to find out who's really standing at your door!
*Feel free to contact Joseph at Josephs@sevengables.com

If you want to know more about getting YOUR career up and running....call me!
Amanda Wernick
Career Development Manger
Seven Gables Real Estate
714/837-7753
Email to: amandaw@sevengables.com

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