Are You an Open House Master?

Be careful out there.  I held an open house in November and the home sold in December and my clients moved out of state.  I just received a letter from an attorney stating they represent a client that was injured in a slip and fall incident at one of my open houses held in November.  The letter states I am to provide insurance information or they will pursue legal action agianst me to recover loss due to injury.  I was never made aware of any injury during an open house, nor was the person named in the letter registered in my open house log book as attending the open house. 

Picking the right property for an open house is very inportant.  When I need new business, I go back to the basics...Open Houses.  I prefer to do OH only in my farms.  My objective is to be seen and meet the neighbors...love it if I get direct business off the OH.  Sometimes I feel like I am having a neighborhood party when I'm holding an OH in one of my farms and all the neighbors show up!

Wow...I'm shocked!  We (my business partner and I) have had HUGE success and have so much fun with our OPEN HOUSES! First of all, we want what our sellers want..so we do open houses, 2 or more.  A REALTOR one, the first possible day for it to hit the market.  We bake homemade lasagna or chilli etc...to lure them! Then the 2nd "public" open house the first Sunday that it hits (allways after church and lunch crowds..usually 1 to 3)  The Realtor version ALWAYS produces!  Who has a handful of buyers at ALL times??!!!  REALTORS!  Feed them and they will come!  I don't care WHO or WHERE you sell...it WORKS! You may even start a healthy trend!  The "public" opens are the best.  Even if you may NEVER get a SINGLE person out, you tried...you advertised...you  marketed...you have the trust of your seller that is priceless....MOST importantly of ALL...THE entire town or city NOTICES!  YOU are their FIRST choice when they decide to list.  Go to the ends of the world for YOUR clients and they will remain...faithful.

I am looking foward to reading the results!  Great Idea.

Oh- I have the Agent for you!! One of mine Agents gives the most fabulous Open House experiences. He has created many new and return clients from his Open House soirees. Jan Skrentny is the Open House Master!

I have been in the business for over 20 years and I try to do at least an open house a week. Some opens I will get no one and others I will get 30. Most peoplle who come through have seen the open advertised on line, a few in the paper and a few who see the directional arrows.I get new clients from opens every month. I do the opens in all price ranges and not only for my own listings, but for other agents as well.

Open Houses work! People won't buy homes off the internet without going through them and going through them at an open house is less pressure than when an agent is scheduling appointments to go.

Opens are a fantastic source of business if you know how to work them.  I would agree with many of you that have commented... I always speak up too when someone says they don't work.  I live in Portland and we are definitely NOT a low-tech area, quite the contrary.  But there comes a time when the sun comes out and people want to get away from their computers and see homes in person.  As someone else said, they are here to stay.  I'm sure that your local colleagues that do open houses consistently will not miss you if you decide they aren't for you. 

I dont put on a show but I have a system that works which ties into my website and IDX with our local MLS.  I don't get buyers every single open but I do get 2-3/month which is fine with me.  It turns out that about 30% of my business both listings and sales comes from people I've met at open houses.  I actually get more listings than sales because many were neighbors dropping by to "just to look".  You just have to know how to quickly build rapport and get them into your system, and you can find gold in opens.