I had a great open house today at 136 Hebron Road, Bolton, CT. I haven't done an open house in a while because I, like many people, did not feel that they really worked.
But this is a house that people really needed to get into so they could experience the charm and see the fabulous backyard and outbuildings. So, I felt that this particular house required an open house, and I was determined to make it great one.
Coincidentally, I was sent an article from NewsGeni.us entitled "Open Houses That Work." Because having a successful open house was on my radar screen, I clicked to read the article. It was a meaty article with plenty of suggestions, many of which I had decided that I needed to try. But the interesting thing was that the article quoted several Active Rain members, whose names I recognized: Wendy Cutrufelli, Rita Burke, and Margaret Rome.
Before I read the article, I had posted the open house on the internet in as many sites as I could, including the MLS, Craigslist, Prudential CT Realty, etc. I also placed an ad in our local newspapers. Today was a huge open house day (last one before the 4/30/10 deadline for the tax credit) so I wanted to be sure to cover all the bases.
I also took to heart the suggestions of the article. I put up a lot of signs, had tons of information, and even thought of a give-away as proposed in the article. My office had just gotten copies of This Old House Presents Your New Home which had suggestions for curb appeal and makeover ideas, and I thought that this would be a perfect give-away. And it was on target considering that my open house was at a house built in 1724 (this was an old house)!
The turnout was great! Of the twelve groups of people, I had two very serious groups and two serious groups. The others were all impressed with the property, and two of them took extra flyers to pass on to people they knew. One of the open house guests was an elderly woman who had visited the house and just wanted to see it for the memories. We chatted about the house she remembered, and I told her I had done the same thing at a house my father had built. I was happy she came, and you just never know who might hear her story.
I also asked my open house guests how they had heard about it, and the results were very evenly split: 1/3 from a newspaper ad, 1/3 from online sites, and 1/3 from the sign. So on that topic, the suggestions in the article were on the mark.
I plan to follow up as they suggested. I will write, email, or call each person to thank them for coming and answer any questions they had. I don't know if I will sell this property from the open house, but the owners were pleased and I was encouraged. I will keep you posted.
I didn't have time to implement all the suggestions in the article, but I will make an effort to do so for my next one, which I am sure will be even a bigger success.
So a big thank-you to the author and contributors of the article for helping to make my open house a success.
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