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What I did to get 70-80 groups to come to my last open house

When I posted that I had 70-80 groups go through my open house for a Tudor fixer, some folks asked how I did it. This doesn't happen often, but for starters, my listing had the most important ingredient: location, location, location.

And to complement that factor, I also did the following:

Advertise frequently on craigslist See 10 things to do when posting on craigslist. This complements the regular local newspaper advertising that features our listing
- The fact that this is a Fixer drew people who are looking for a good deal
I put out several open house signs on main intersections.
- By the way, each of my open house signs has long, flowing gold/red metallic ribbons that set them apart from other open houses. They also catch the eye when the ribbon flaps in the wind. I had bought rolls of this ribbon during Christmastime, and haven't had to replace them too often.
- These ribbons make my signs more visible.
During open house, in front of the house, I put up 8 neon-colored flags so it looks festive. This is how it looks (I have yellow, orange and red). As far as I know, I'm the only one in my city doing these flags (to date).

At the property, I distribute 2-sided flyers. On one side, I feature the property flyer, and on the other, the latest issue of Realty Times.
- I also have a property binder with information about the property, the neighborhood, comps, inspections and other diclosures

I can't take credit for the attractiveness of my listing --- but I do try to augment that by using as many attention-grabbing things as I can think of.

How about you?

Posted by Pacita Dimacali - e-PRO, SRES, CDPE, MBA East Bay, North CA real estate on 09/18/2008 10:14 PM

Comments (115)

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Originally posted at: Pacita's Quick Bytes of Real Estate: What I did to get 70-80 groups to come to my last open house

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115 Comments on What I did to get 70-80 groups to come to my last open house

SEP

2008

Great ideas! I'm going to try a few of those on my next open house.

Please remember me if you learn of anyone moving to "The OC."

Best Regards

Michael Caruso

dear pacita, great job and you are right, the more you do for the listing and the open house the more people you attract

We like the flags along the driveway, of course we use the balloons on the directionals at intersections, but like the idea the flowing ribbons too. Do you use backpage.com which is like craigslist.

I clicked on your link...but it doesn't go to the Craig's list posting...can you point me in the right direction.

Thanks for the tips. I think the flag idea is a great one and am going to order some soon!

I second Cindy's request for the link to the Craigslist blog you mentioned.

Thanks for sharing, Nicole Weidauer

The Egerer & Weidauer Team, Keller Williams Realty North Seattle

Great ideas, I will try them this Friday and Saturday.

Great advice on open houses. It sure makes a difference. :)

Great ideas for the Open House. I needed the tips. I hope they work for me.

This is where I posted my blog on 10 things to do when posting on craigslist

http://activerain.com/blogsview/674931/1-Things-to-Do

Hope it works this time.

And thanks for the positive feedback. Could always use more ideas!

Great concepts. I love the flag idea. We've been trying to make sure to put out signs on major highways to see how this works. Thanks for the other ideas.

Thats a great idea with the 8 neon flags Pacitia. I will try this out too.

I got the flags from www.FlagsExpress.com in case anyone is interested. There are other resources. When you google "real estate flags" you are boung to see several providers.

Good luck and have fun!

I use flags but I do not have thaaaat many. Something to reconsider I do believe. It definitely draws the attention you desire.

I like the flags. Definitely eye catching.

I love the flags!!!!!!

the flags are a great idea. Our balloons deflate too soon.

Thank you for the information. All ideas help in this market!

Some great ideas. I am going to try to do something different to draw in some additional people to my open houses this weekend! Thanks for sharing!

Very good ideas! I also post on Craigslist and I think that it helps too! Thank you for the tips!

I like the flag idea, thank you!

I too like your ideas, tooo late for my Sunday Open House, but I can order some flags for the next one :) Thanks for sharing.

You have given us some great ideas, love the idea about the flags. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for sharing, Pacita. I can honestly say that I am not a fan of open houses, but that almost goes without saying. Your open houses sounds great. Take Care, Jim

Thank you Pacita, anything you do to attract people to the house is a plus, specially on a market like this one. The flags are the most visible sign that tells people there is a "festivity" of some kind going on and they will come to check it out. I assume the house sold for a full price or better... did it?

Antonio & Alexia Cardenas, "The Realtors In Motion" www.ListedbyAntonio.com

Great ideas Pacita. I might have to try some of your ideas. I need something to jump start my Open House attempts, as I hardly ever have a good turn out.

Pacita,

Excellent open house ideas! I will definitely start to implement those in my area--I have not seen anyone around me do the flag thing, which is a definite eye catcher. I appreciate the tips.

--Anne Rains

LadyofRealty.blogspot.com

www.TheRainsTeam.com

The flags are a nice edition...like a model home.

Draws attention to the open house.

Nice post. Great ideas? What was the end result? Did it sell? Did you add some great contacts for other potential transactions?

Pacita ...

I LOVE the flags ... that definitely stands out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where did you get the flags???? (i'm not a competitor, i'm in texas)

Great ideas, I think drawing all the attention to your listing is very smart!

Thanks for the tips. I will start using them tomorrow a.m.!

NOW THAT'S A PRODUCTIVE AFTERNOON! Did you get the house under contract from the open house? Did you have another agent there to help? Did you get a ton of phone #'s and/or e-mail addresses?

Great ideas!

I don't do many open houses, but people in my office don't even advertise sometimes. They just put tons of signs out and get a lot of people. I suppose how well that works depends on the location of the lsiting.

Thanks for the tips.

Great tips and an amazing result. Timely post for me since I will hold an open house this weekend.

I like the ideea of lots of flags out front and the ribbons as well.

Great tips. I will be using this as a reference tool.

Hi, all. Thanks for the comments. In the meantime, here's an update on results of the activity during my first open house:

There are four agents and their clients "circling":
- two buyers saw the property during open house, and have returned with their contractors. They're discussing their options, and want me to inform the of anything that may percolate into an offer
- two are expressed interest but they need to sell their home first
I picked up as potential clients a couple who are focused on their upcoming wedding, but would like to start looking into buying a house
I picked up as potential clients who have been at the house three times, the last time with their contractor. They also need to sell their house, so I went to see their house, prepared a marketing presentation and comparable market analysis
Someone I met online at a local blog came by to see the property. And we're going to discuss how I can help her find a property that meets her needs.
One of my prospective sellers who needs to find a home to buy before he puts his home on the market came by (and hopefully he liked the fact that I staged a fixer), and saw the kind of activity we had during the open house

Not bad activity for a fixer upper that's literally been on the market only 5 days since last Saturday, eh?

Wow - great ideas and results, too. Some are just so easy - why didn't I think of that?

Pacita, where did you get the flags? Some great ideas! Congratulations on the great turnout!

Fabulous! Thank you for sharing your ideas to attract prospects to your open house. You are definitely thinking outside of the box...

Pacita...

In Newnan GA many of your ideas are illegal. It is illegal to have more than one open house sign, no ribbons or even balloons. No flags in front of the property. They actually have an officer that 'Pops" balloons, and you can be cited.

We're not much of an open house area anyway, too many buying opportunities and not enough buyers.

We have 177 foreclosures in the county being advertised right now. That's TOUGH competition, but real estate is local and if it's legal and saleable GO FOR IT!

SEP

2008

Richard,

That's too bad about your not being able to put up more than one open house. I can see why balloons may not be allowed --- they could obstruct a visibility of stop signs. In my city, we're allowed 6 signs and I where I post them, I make sure they don't obstruct the crosswalk and other signs.

No flags? Wow! Wonder what the reason is? It's not like you're going to leave the flags there at all times. Anyway, that's another reason why you should utilize other promotional means. If you have craigslist, post your listings as frequently as 2-3 times a week. If the others don't, the be the one to do it.

For those who asked where to get flags: If you google real estate flags, you'll find several vendors. I found mine at http://www.flagsexpress.com/shell/realestate.htm

Good luck

I have not seen anyone using flags in my area - great attention getter- thank you for sharing.

I also like the flag idea! Thanks for the interesting tip - I may have our agents try this out next time around.

Kathleen and Jason

One of the other bloggers said having flags make it feel like I'm showing a model home (this is a fixer).

But the point is: I'm the only one (to date) in my city who is doing putting up flags.

They also have flags you can mount on your open house signs. However, don't be surprised if people want to take those flags home. The ones I have in front of my open house are always in danger of developing feet. Mother have come to ask if their kid can have a flag. Maybe I should go ahead and order more, just in case.

Pacita,

Thank you for sharing. I love the idea of the flags and will try it. I have two homes that will be open during the parade of homes so maybe this will help draw people in. Have a great week!

Carla

Quite a job, I liked it very much. Flags should be a big attraction. And signs on intersections, very good

hmmm... Very interesting. this gives us some great ideas.

Thanks for the post

Good for you - Price had to play into it too.. But where did you get those flags!?????????

I actually enjoy holding open houses. Not only as a way to get the home in front of buyers but also to visit with neighbors in areas where I work. Thanks for the Craigs List tips, I plan to use some of them before my next open house!

Great ideas! I have an open house coming up this weekend!

Very good!! You sure brought that house to the attention of everyone! I would've attended it if I lived near you. I always say that it is all in the presentation...........

Stacey~

We would never be allowed to put those flags out in our Hilton Head neighborhoods. Definitely a no-no but a great idea for you.

Pacita - Great post, thanks for sharing these are some really good ideas.

Thanks for sharing - great post - I love the flags! Very eye catching!

The flags are a great idea. I've seen flags used in our area on vacant lots as well.

Hi Patricia,

Thats a great turnout your ideas are very creative.Thanks for sharing with all of us! :)

Pacita, Nice combination of marketing tools! Great idea and continued success...I might steal a few of those ideas.

You did a fantastic job! I love the flags going up the walkway!

Wow! Did you run out of flyers??? I sometimes take only 5-7 flyers to my open houses, unless I definately think it's a hot property, it's not worth wasting the paper.

I have an open house this weekend and will be sure to try these tips!

Pacita, I enjoyed both this post and the Craigslist 10 post. I use Craigslist, but never thought of using it for an open house. Also, I really liked the Flag idea. Would you mind sharing where you bought them? Thanks for taking the time to share these excellent ideas!

I like your idea with the ribbons. What a wonderful turn out you had! Thanks for sharing some tips!

Pacita, Thank you for sharing such wonderful ideas w/us...it is vital that you "STAND OUT" from the rest...especially in THIS market...I too, use all the attention-grabbers I can get my hands on... The Dollar Stores are a really good source for this...

The flags are such a nice touch...we have the type of flags that are on a "streamer" (like the old carnivals used to use)...we stream them from one corner of the property to the front door, then to the other corner...forming a "V" shape...they look spectacular and absolutey make a statement: OPEN HOUSE TODAY!!! COME INSIDE!!!

Advertising is most important...be it newspaper, craigslist, or anything else...getting your information out there is crucial...you can never have enough "signs" with ribbons (I also use big bright balloons) It really DOES make YOUR house stand out from the others. Thank you again for sharing...have a FANTASTIC weekend!!!

Hi, all...

It probably would also help for you to take pictures of your open house with all the flags. Then include this in your marketing presentation to show your creativity.

This is one of those "Wow, I could have had a V8!" moments. I should do this, too, and put it on my website as well.

Good ideas beget more ideas, doesn't it?

Thanks again for the positive comments.

Hey Pacita,

Great Job! I love the flags. I have used balloons before but got burned out with getting the helium tanks, ribbons, tank disposal, etc.

The flags are awesome: colorful, durable, and re-usable. I wonder if bike flags would work, otherwise, I'll check out real estate suppliers.

Thanks, Laurie

Great Pacita,

Super, super ideas. Very creative. I have adondoned using baloons for my open houses and now also use flags on the property and to tell you the truth, I think they look more professional. Also, baloons are not useful in windy weather or rain, so the flags are a great replacement. Great ideas about the ribbons on the directionals.

Thank You!

I love your colored flags idea - that would work well here where it's often windy. Thanks!

Hi, Pacita.

I think the flags are a great idea. I use balloons and I haven't had a problem with them deflating unless the weather is bad (i.e, windy). I don't use helium balloons, though, cause they always seem to pop in my car in transport. I put balloons on every sign and in the yard. I also use two-sided flyers. I ony advertise my open houses if they can be a featured listing; otherwise, I don't find advertising brings in the people. Most people say they found my open house by the signs. I also offer bottled water and some sort of snack. It keeps people around so that you can develope a rapport with them. I'm picky, too, about the location of the house I hold open and how long it has been on the market. I like the flag idea, though. It's better than blowing up balloons and you can re-use them! Thanks.

I absolutely love the flags idea! And the glossy flyers are good, too! I have put red date/ time signs on my Open House signs so I could place them a little early... Works well, too..... Good luck! Dagny Eason William Raveis, Wilton CT

Wonderful ideas Pacita! Thanks for sharing.

Agents are too worried about professionalism....and need to be a bit on the obnoxious side...with taste. There is an art to this and you have done a great job. Like the flag idea... A bit easier than putting 10 balloons up. That works great too....

Thanks for sharing, I was one of those who asked WHAT did you do to get so many visitors!

That's awesome; I like the flags idea and the dounle-sided, glossy flyers:)

You have some great ideas. Its always about standing out from the crowd Huh? Giveaways, and Food always seem to be a winner too :)

Love the flags. I definately plan to try the ribbons. Everyone around here uses baloons. That being said I do most of my open houses in a gated community and we are not allowed to do any of those things. There are not for sale signs on the houses and we can only use the community open house signs. I'll have to leave the creativity for when I do outside homes.

Hi all

I also get a good turnout during broker's tours (in my city, not everywhere else) because people know I will serve my signature food: dim sum!

I've had my tours catered, ordered food for delivery, etc. Then I discovered how easy it is to drive to downtown Oakland's Chinatown, go to one of the dim sum to-go places, point to this and that, get 2 dozen of this, 3 dozen of that, and I'm out of there in less than 15 minutes.

Then I serve bottled water with the dim sum. I do this for every broker's tour, so people know what to expect. Last Tuesday, on my remarks for refreshments, I said "NOT cookies and coffee. REAL food for hungry REALTORS!" And I also put up my flags.

It turned out to be like Party Central! What fun!

I want to goto Pacita's open house, after touring 10 homes with no catering dim sum and some cold water sounds like a great stop. Thanks for sharing your experience and I do agree location is almost everything in this business

Flags look great that you are using! It sure makes it easier when you have a great location to market!

Those flags are lovely! Thanks for the ideas!

Hi Pacita! GREAT POST and congratulations on that little gold star! I love the flag idea and the ribbons beat the heck out of the pooped out balloons by the end of the day!! Thanks for posting this!

SEP

2008

Great Job! At my company and office we are asked to use a minimum of 8 directional signs with 2 balloons each. I also like to make the yard as festive as I can without over doing it when I can it does seem to bring in more people.

I have also found that if I start the Open House 1 or 2 hours after the other agents in the area and stay open 1 or 2 hours after they have shut down I get higher attendance and they stay longer because they are not in a rush to hit other Open Houses.

SEP

2008

Wow! Those numbers coming through were impressive. I am having an open house today but in a community where no signs, so balloons, so obviously no flags are allowed. Any suggestions?

That is a lot. I do a lot of simular things I even add a sign to give away a gas card or Wal Mart card but I have never had more than 20 people.

SEP

2008

Update:

This is the second Sunday I'm holding this open. There was another open house a block away from mine, but there was more traffic at mine. When I look up and down the street, the colorful flags really make this open house "pop!"

There are now two offers on the table with two more expected. I didn't think we'd have competitive offers on a fixer at this price, but here we are. The condition of the house may be hell-ish, but the location is heavenly!

Pacita

SEP

2008

Wow, Pacita,

Thanks for sharing the info and also for the updates. This really helps!

Update: three offers, three counter offers. Two came back with their own counteroffers. Almost at list price, no credits, as is. After comparing the seller's net sales proceeds from each offer, it came down to a difference of $594 between both offer.

Third counter offer came back but it's dcontingent on their selling their own home.

Seller decides that two in hand is better than one in the bush, and will make a decision on the stronger two offers without such a contingency.

Sellers are very please and happy at this activity --- imagine, multiple offers on a fixer listed at $648K!

SEP

2008

Great ideas! Last open house I had though I had difficulty with my pointer signs walking away. The sign on the main thoroughfare disappeared but I finally found it down the street leaning up against a big boulder. Moved it to the other corner and it stayed there. I put up another pointer sign at one of the cross streets and it disappeared completely. I brought another one the day of the open house and put it up and when I came out two hours later to pick it up after the open house it was gone too. Really makes me angry. It wasn't in anyone's way. It was right next to a stop sign in the right of way but evidenlty someone didn't like it there. This certainly gets expensive having to replace signs. I could put the flags up in the yard of the house and they should stay there with me sitting right there.

Carolyn,

Yes, I've experienced signs that developed legs, too....that happened when I was doing an open house for a listing in San Francisco. A homeless man picked it up just as we were about to pick it up --- and I threatened to call the police. Lucky we got there as he was walking away. I don't know what he thought he could use it for ---- a tent?

From time to time, I'd see garage sale signs that are obviously commandeered (or maybe lent by the realtors) for this purpose.

Unfortunately, that's the nature of our business. So we solider on.

OCT

2008

Very Good- Just curious how many closings have you generated using this method?

Thank you for all this good information. I can't wait to try these ideas.

Allison,

I tried to provide a chart of what I have done year-to-date, and sources of sales, but I couldn't load the picture, but this is how it would have looked this year:

36.36% Internet (craigslist included)
9.09% Open houses
18.18% Referral database and repeat clients (many of these repeat clients I met through open houses!)
27.27& Geographic farm (client saw my for sale sign next door, listed with me; another client responded to postcards I sent the year before, a third responded to a letter I sent out)
9.09% Signs

Thank you! Your ideas are incredible. I just printred out your Craig's List suggestions. I really enjoy the folksy way you describe your listings in the formal presentation. I am going to emulate some of your marketing. Again, thank you. Your energy is inspiring.

Scott and Debbie

Thanks....we all need to encourage each other, and to explore new ideas.. Thank goodness fo Active Rain where we can find all kinds of good information and inspirational thoughts.

Good luck!

DEC

The flags and ribbons are a great idea. What a great breakdown in your comment post, too on the source of sales.

Thank you for the great idea about Flags. Where do you get them from ?

I like them better than balloons.

DEC

Great post...good ideas...I like the festive nature of your open houses...make it an event.

I am also an auctioneer and we use the newspaper and postcards to drive people to our website with lots of pictures, then when they arrive at the property, there are signs all over the place including parking signs and an associate to direct people to park...

I like the use of flags...make it an event people would not forget.

DEC

Sorry for the late response --- for some reason the last three comments just appeared yesterday!

Margaret --- whenever I take a look at the sources of my leads, it confirms to me that doing open houses pays.

Gita --- where to get flags: If you google real estate flags, you'll find several vendors. I found mine at http://www.flagsexpress.com/shell/realestate.htm

Keith --- flags always helps. I don't put the flags on my open house signs per se because they will "walk away"....but I set them up in front of the property. And believe it or not, as often as I've done this, I think I'm still the only one in town doing it!

JAN

Pacita, I haven't read all of these posts yet, but it looks like you could write a book on the subject of Open Houses or at least a great chapter in a book on real estate marketing!

Lots of great ideas to gain passers by attention. Nice to be known as the Flag Realtor.

Sharon --- thanks. When I was a newbie, my best sources of leads were craigslist and open houses. Happily, some of the listing agents for whom I held open houses allowed me to advertise the open house on craigslist (they didn't know how, and they didn't mind). Today, these are still very much significant resources.

Evelyn --- Flag realtor? Well...I'm not complaining. I'm STILL the only realtor in town doing it!

Sharon ~ Thanks for your knowledge. Great Blog

Mandy, presumably you were talking to me about my blog? If so, thanks!

Happy New Year ---- Pacita

FEB

Great ideas. Love all the flags.

Mark --- believe it or not, I'm still the ONLY ONE doing the flags. That's fine by me. Another way to brand myself.

Thanks for the compliment. Good luck on your own open houses.

MAR

I love the streaming ribbons idea! And thanks to everyone else responding for their great ideas! Lastly, doing open houses for other agents has always been a full way to get business for me, but to advertise them on Craigslist is nothing short of brilliant!!!

Thanks

MAR

Carol --- I think I'm still the only one doin the flags. I used to be the only one in my office to post on Craigslist until I convinced the others to d Postlets and/or Vflyer and showed them how easy it is to post on craigslist that wsy. Now, it's a practice among the realtors in my office.

Hope it works for you, too!

MAY

I love your presentation of your open house. I can not implement these since signs are discouraged in our city. In my community we have strict rules: no personal for sale/open home signs are allowed. We can rent generic signs and place them in key locations and one sign is allowed on the property. This system prevents the inundation of "for sale" signs and makes the community more attractive.

Your flag idea makes the property very festive indeed and that I can implement. If I can purchase those cute flags I will try it next weekend when I host an open house.

MAY

Thanks for the post, I have done the balloons but not with that much pazzaz. I will have to try that.

Pacita - we too use flags and are in process of (read when I have time) to making our own flags with our colors. Might as well do some branding. They do help a lot. In one of our open houses people were running in left and right because they thought it was an auction. lol. ~Rita

MAY

I loved your article. Where did you get the colored flags?

Anja --- the flags certainly sets my open house apart from the others. So in your case where you're not allowed to do much with open house signs, this should work, right?

Charles --- i was thinking of balloons, too....but didn't relish having to blow them up each time. Hence, the ribbons and the flags.

Rita --- I want to buy more flags.....and thinking of having them branded. But with or without our logo, it's still eye-catching to see flags.

Diane --- got the flags at http://www.flagsexpress.com/shell/realestate.htm

JUL

Pacita- These are some great ideas for getting traffic to an open house. I will pass this on to the agents in my office. The flags and ribbons are a great idea but mainly getting a ton of signs out at major intersections will drive traffic. What's up with agents who don't put the property address on the open house signs, and then only put out a few. I don't know how they expect anyone to actually find the house that way!

Great post and great information. Thanks!

Jenny --- glad you like this. In certain cities, we are limited to the number of directional signs we can use. Some won't allow it. But I do love my flags. Good luck in your open houses.

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