I've been sleepy and even dozed once at an open house. I woke up with that clumsy "I-shouldn't-be-asleep" jerk when 
I heard the front door open, and I'm sure the incoming visitor recognized the startled "now-I'm-awake" look. Since then, I've taken some sort of distraction with me. I have a Kindle on order, and it will be my new companion to open houses. A Kindle will be easy to simply close and carry along as I greet visitors and answer questions. Put a stenographer-sized writing pad on top of it, and it will look like part of the notepad. Alternatively, I could just proudly hold the Kindle and look like the really cool, hip REALTOR® I am.
I do have other open house strategies.
I turn on the TV if it has cable and find two channels, one with soothing music and one with whatever I want to watch. I can switch channels as visitors walk up the sidewalk (of course, I have to experiment with the remote until I find that quick switch button). If the Cardinals are playing, I might just leave the channel where it is.
I may have a soda or coffee with me, unless I am in a very high-end house replete with marble and gold leaf. I'm human and I think visitors understand that. If the homeowner has baked cookies as a gesture of hospitality and to give the home that freshly-baked cookie smell, I encourage visitors to eat them. After all, it's good politics to be sure some of the cookies are gone. If visitors don't partake, I will have to eat three or four myself!
If needed, I do go to the bathroom-quickly, though, and with the front door to the house locked-I figure I can always apologize and say, "How in the world did that thing get locked?" Of course, I have to change the television channel first, as I might not have time do that while running through the house to unlock the door!
Instead of putting the MLS info sheet out where visitors can simply pick them up, I try to hand one to each visitor personally after they have signed in. I intentionally imply that they have to sign in to get the information sheet. They are, after all, coming into a private residence; and the least they can do is identify themselves before they start walking around at will. Yes, some do balk and some even refuse to sign in. "It's for security purposes," I say when I see the hesitation. I've never actually kicked anyone out for refusing to sign in, but I do follow them around.
I print the version of the MLS sheet that has my contact info on it, and I do not hand out a business card unless someone asks for it. Honestly, I just have a thing about foisting business cards on folks who have no intention of keeping them. If I do click with visitors or find a buyer, the exchange of phone numbers and email addresses will follow naturally.
Blank contracts stay in the car. On the rare occasion when a visitor wants to write an offer, filling out a contract while the open house is still on-going is an insult to any additional visitors who happen to come into the house. Though I was not his agent, I did have a visitor at an open house earlier this year who proudly told every visitor present that he "had a contract on this house." In fact, he did not have a "contract." He had, however, written an offer earlier that weekend and was trying to protect what he felt was his turf.
Tomorrow I'm venturing out to the world of OPEN HOUSE again, though my Kindle is still back-ordered. I wonder if I can use the Kindle as a tax deduction? Staying awake at an open house and fostering a reputation as a really cool, 
hip REALTOR® should be a legitimate business expense, after all!
©2010 Liz Lockhart, liz@lockhartlegacy.com
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