When holding an open house do you just let the buyer wonder willy nilly around the house or do you follow them around not unlike a used car salesman?
Something happened this weekend at an open house that has given my partner and I pause in how we hold an open house. Historically we have always asked the buyer to sign a guest book and then walked them around the property. Well a couple of months ago we were at a seminar where a very successful agent explained his open house protocol. He would hand the buyer a clip board with a detailed questionnaire and ask them to complete the questionnaire as they walked around the property unfettered by an agent. We did find that the buyer was much more apt to complete the questionnaire and I might add in detail. However, last week during an open house we had three gentlemen show up. They said they lived in the neighborhood and introduced themselves as the dad and his two sons. We handed them the clip board and off they went. It was not a large condo so they looked at the downstairs and then headed for the second floor. We could hear them talking but after about 10 minutes (the place was not that big) I decided to check on them. I headed up the stairs to find the dad and one son standing at the landing and the other son was in the master bedroom. They immediately followed me back down and the dad then took the questionnaire from the clip board and said since he lived in the area we didn't need the info! Boy, that really made us feel better! We decided right then and there to go back to the old method.
Comments(7)