We advertise. We put out signs. We hang balloons. We bake cookies. We invite our fellow realtors. And no one comes to our party! I am sure that we all have experienced the frustration of sitting for three or four hours holding an open house and wondering to ourselves if it is all worth it? Right? At least that was my thought process until a couple of recent events changed my way of thinking about the positive side of a flopped open house.
First of all, I am fortunate to live on Hutchinson Island, Florida where there a lot of homes and condos in a concentrated area. People are very active here. Going fishing, boating, beaching, and pursuing all kinds of outdoor activities. In other words, they get out a lot. As a new agent, I do not have a great pool of buyers just waiting for me to find them their perfect home, so I do open houses. My listings and other agents listings, it does not matter. A short time ago, a person who happens to live in my community approached me and said, "I see your open house sign out almost every week. I want to upgrade to a larger place will you sell my condo and find me a bigger one?" Hello?
Just last week, I was doing my three hour weekly ritual of sitting one of my listings. After experimenting with other forms of advertising, I usually just do online promotion and rely on my signage to work. Remember, all of the activity here on Hutchinson Island. That is a distinct advantage. Anyway, a gentleman stopped in to see if the unit was available for rent. I do not handle rentals but I told him that I would put him in touch with an owner who had a condo to rent. I made the introduction. To make the story short, the owner asked me to list one of his units. Two days later, he introduced me to a friend who has a $600,000 home on the water that I will be listing!
I am doing my open house ritual this weekend again and the very worst that I can expect is that a lot of people will see my sign. But, I know that sometime, somewhere, and with someone, it will pay dividends.
My wife Pam and I live, work, and play here on Hutchinson Island, Florida. We both come from entrepreneurial backgrounds, having started and sold several businesses back in Maine. While we love to boat, fish, swim, play tennis, and golf, we also love building businesses and meeting interesting people. We really enjoy discovering all of the great places here on Hutchinson Island. I have tried to make my website as informative as possible. However, if you want us to check out something for you, just let us know. We are always looking for an excuse to explore.
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