Many new agents start their careers in real estate by hosting open houses and for a good reason too. Open houses can provide a great way to go out in the real world and meet potential clients. They can also quickly jump start an agent’s career by increasing their database with new leads.
However, the success of an open house is directly determined by the number of people that attend. Open houses as with everything else in the real estate industry are numbers based. The more people that attend an open house directly translate into more opportunities to convert those people to potential clients.
However, in order to successfully drive traffic to an open house, the agent must have clear and visible directional signs. Sign visibility is the single largest factor in funneling traffic to open houses as it attracts people that are driving the neighborhood actively looking for a house. These people may or may not become actual customers, but if they cannot see your signs or there are few of them, they will continue on their journey and become a missed opportunity.
A good example of this actually happened this past weekend. I hosted an open house, and previewed the same house at a different agent’s open house the previous day. When previewing this house, there were not any signs on the major arterial road leading into this subdivision, and in fact the only sign to be found was one on a narrow road that was easily overlooked. The agent remarked that the traffic count was very low for that day.
The following day, I co-hosted this house with another agent and found signage everywhere. This agent had sign coverage on all four corners on a major arterial intersection prior to this house, the road leading up to the house, and in the neighborhood where the house was. This agent placed about 15 signs in total, and the foot traffic at this open house was dramatically better.
So, how does an agent hosting an open house appropriately place signs for maximum visibility?
First, obtain a good number of open house signs. Obtain signs that are sturdy, have a high contrast of text colors, and have clear directional arrows. Since some people have red/green colorblindness, avoid using a sign that combines those colors altogether. People will this type of colorblindness will not be able to distinguish the text from the background and will not be able to read your sign. Also avoid signs where the colors blend together, have reflective text, are dirty, or have obscure directional arrows. A good mixture of signs that have left or right arrows as well as straight ahead arrows is good to have.
Second, before hosting the open house, identify the major arterial roads where potential customers can arrive at the open house. Those roads are very important to have sign coverage with directional arrows on at least two out of the four corners of the intersection. If it is only possible to have two signs, then place the signs on the road with the highest traffic counts. Step back from the signs and verify that a driver can safely see the sign and that the directional arrow is pointing the right way. If the neighborhood where the open house resides is accessible from different directions, repeat for the other intersection. Verify that your signs are secured and that the directional arrow points the right way.
Third, drive the major arterial road going towards the target house. At various intervals before the local road that goes to the neighborhood where the target house is, place signs with a forward facing arrow from both directions on the major arterial road, and place the appropriate directional sign on the local road. Again, verify that the signs are visible and pointing in the right direction.
Fourth, place appropriate directional signage on the local road(s) as needed to direct traffic to the target house. At this point, since the agent may be placing signs on private property, if possible, ask the homeowner if they grant permission to the agent to place a sign in their yard. This is a good strategy because, it builds goodwill, and the homeowner can help identify where not to place a sign. The homeowner may be aware of where sprinkler lines exist and can direct the agent to a place where it is safe to place a sign.
Fifth, place an open house sign directly in front of the house, and place some balloons on the open house sign. This signals to customers that they have arrived at the open house and that they are not lost.
Finally, imagine that the agent is a potential customer and drive around the neighborhood. Use multiple entry points in to the neighborhood, if they exist and look for the target house. If the house is easily found, then potential customers will have the same experience.
Generally speaking if at least 10-15 people tour an open house, at least one of them should be a serious buyer. Using these strategies above should help an agent to meet that goal. Even if a particular open house does not procure any buyers, using these strategies can help to develop a reputation that the agent is an expert at hosting open houses. The greater ones reputation for being an expert at open houses, the more opportunities there are to host them, and ultimately meet buyers.
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