How to Have a Successful Real Estate Open House
It makes sense that it is a good idea to expose your home to the largest number of potential buyers. However, how you get those buyers to walk through your door and inside your house can be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.
Use Technology
Promote your open house as much as possible where most buyers are hanging out. They are on the Internet. Most people looking to buy a home start out by looking online.
Make sure your online listing is professional and engaging. Don’t skimp on the number or quality of the photos you post. Choose good quality photos that show many areas of the home.
Agents should advertise open houses on real estate sites like Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com. Zillow allows you to claim your property listing and include details about your open house for free.
Don’t forget about social media. Promote your open house on your social networks like Facebook and Twitter to take advantage of the power of sharing on social media.
Videos of homes are more powerful than still images. You should post a video tour of your home on a video sharing site like YouTube. You can then share your video on social media.
The More Signs the Better
There is no better way to advertise an open house to foot traffic than using real estate signs. You never know who is walking by that might have a friend or relative looking to buy a home.
Strategically place your open house signs to maximize the traffic to the home. Best practices suggest using different types of signs that are visible from a distance. You should also use directional signs to reach a wider audience.
Placing signs on nearby intersections can help direct people to your home. You should put these signs out on the day of the open house.
Clean and De-Clutter
There is nothing worse than not preparing your house for sale. If it is dirty and cluttered, you will lose the sale.
Unless your property is a fixer-upper and priced accordingly, potential buyers are not going to look past your mess to see the potential of your home.
Don’t forget about your front and backyard. You want to make sure your yard is well-maintained to help create a good first impression.
Don’t Forget About Closets
Many homeowners are not worried about what their closets look like. After all, once you close a closet door, does it really matter what it looks like inside?
Well, if you are trying to sell your house, do you really want potential buyers to get hit on the head with a falling box or see a mess inside your closet? Make sure that all your closets including hall, linen, and bedroom, are neat and well-organized.
Put Your Phone Away
When a potential buyer walks through the front door, the last thing they want to see is an agent on their phone.
The first thing you should do is greet them with a smile. You should be prepared to answer any questions you are asked about the house and give your full attention.
Know the Market
Many buyers today have already looked at other properties in the same area either online or in person. Make sure you know the specifics about other listings in the same neighborhood in the same price range so you can answer questions about the competition and recent sales.
You should also have handouts about the home for sale as well as printouts of the competing listings.
Be a Good Host
Not all buyers are the same. Some prefer to take a narrated guided tour of the home and others prefer to look through the house on their own.
As a realtor, you should pay attention to non-verbal cues. For instance, if you are yapping away about all the details in a given room and see someone roll their eyes or a couple gives each other looks, you are probably talking too much.
If the potential buyer does want to walk through the home on their own, you still need to follow quietly behind them because you are responsible for the home and want to be sure there is no damage done and nothing is stolen.
Some agents offer visitors something to drink and a little snack. This is often the norm for broker open houses but can also be used for buyer open houses.
